Activists Warn of ‘Assassination of Humanity’ at COP30 Despite Concerns Over Lack of Alternatives (Worthy News Focus)

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

BELÉM, BRAZIL (Worthy News) – An international group of influential climate activists demand a new global treaty to phase out fossil fuels to prevent the “assassination of humanity,” despite growing concerns that there aren’t yet enough alternatives available to sustain global economic growth.

The appeal came at COP30, the 30th edition of the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference, held in Belém, Brazil, where, ironically, numerous world leaders and other delegates arrived in fossil-fuel-powered private planes.

The proposed Fossil Fuel Treaty, already backed by 17 countries and advocates, came amid criticism that a new four-lane highway cutting through tens of thousands of acres of protected Amazon rainforest was being built for COP30.

Authorities said the highway was to ease traffic to the city, which hosts more than 50,000 delegates — including world leaders — at the conference that started Monday and lasts until November 21.

Yet delegates suggested the world should overlook these controversies and instead “hurry up and act on the root cause” of the climate crisis.

COP, or Conference of the Parties, is the supreme decision-making body of the United Nations’ climate treaty, bringing together almost every country on Earth — meaning a future Fossil Fuel Treaty could theoretically be rolled out globally.

ACTIVISTS URGED END TO FOSSIL FUELS

Activists in Belém issued impassioned appeals urging the Brazilian presidency of COP30 to pressure nations to phase out fossil fuels entirely.

They insisted the world is falling far short of commitments made at COP28 in Dubai last year, where countries vowed to “transition away” from fossil fuels — a pledge critics say has produced little measurable change.

“If we continue to extract hydrocarbons from the Earth, we will exterminate ourselves,” warned Olivia Bissa, president of the Chapra Nation in the Peruvian Amazon.

She COP delegates that Indigenous peoples are “tired of being sacrificed” while powerful governments and corporations “rule the planet,” adding that inaction would amount to being “complicit with ecocide and the assassination of humanity.”

Yet the massive new highway built through protected rainforest — more than 13 kilometers (miles) of cleared land — to transport her and others to the climate venue has stirred anger among conservationists who say it contradicts the summit’s declared “climate” mission.

The Amazon rainforest is widely viewed as one of humanity’s most crucial carbon sinks and biodiversity hotspots. Locals noted trucks piled with logs lining the newly carved route into Belém.

BRAZIL STILL PRAISED OVER POLICY

Yet Tzeporah Berman, chair of the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative, still praised Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for “supporting a fossil-fuel phase-out.”

However, he criticized him for approving a new offshore oil project near the mouth of the Amazon.

She cited a recent International Court of Justice opinion saying nations must address climate risks or face legal consequences.

Berman accused major producers — including the U.S., Australia, Norway, and Canada — of accelerating drilling even after the 2015 Paris Agreement, arguing a binding treaty would be a “major act of love and justice for our time.”

Yet significant opposition remains. Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing nations reportedly pushed back against any treaty language mandating a phase-out of fossil fuels, raising doubts about what COP30’s final agreement will include.

A potential obstacle is U.S. President Donald J. Trump, who has called for the U.S. and others to “drill, baby, drill.”

MORE CONCERNS OVER ‘GREEN’ ENERGY

He and other leaders also express concern that so-called “green” energy projects, ranging from wind turbines to solar panels, won’t meet demand, with several climate policy-adopting nations already struggling after phasing out fossil fuels.

Additionally, energy prices for consumers have skyrocketed, especially in Western European countries such as the Netherlands, where the government wants to make the country a leading “climate change” aware nation.

The United States did not send a high-level representation to COP30, prompting activists to demand external pressure on Washington.

Crystal Cavalier, a Native American representative from North Carolina, said the treaty could become a “tool” for marginalized communities in the U.S., warning of “sacrifice zones” where ecosystems are collapsing. “The U.S. isn’t showing up, but the rest of the world can show up for us,” she said.

BIBLICAL EXPERTS CHALLENGE ‘EXTINCTION’ NARRATIVE

Amid dramatic warnings of planetary annihilation, several Christian theologians and Biblical experts told Worthy News that Scripture does not support predictions of humanity’s imminent disappearance.

They pointed to Biblical prophecies foretelling that Christ will establish His Kingdom on Earth for another thousand years, as described in Revelation 20.

This, they argue, suggests humanity will not vanish — even without a Fossil Fuel Treaty — and that ultimate global destruction will occur only according to God’s timeline, not human projections.

Latest Worthy News