Fire erupts at COP30 — and fossil fuels save the day

Attendees at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Belém, Brazil, were forced to flee after a fire broke out in a public area known as the 'Blue Zone'.

Sheila Gunn Reid
  |   November 20, 2025   |   News Analysis   |   3 Comments

 

source: X / theinformant_x

Panic ripped through the COP30 climate summit in Belém after a fire erupted inside the UN’s public Blue Zone on Thursday, forcing delegates to drop their lattes, abandon their laptops, and sprint for the exits.

The blaze started in the pavilion area where countries set up their glossy climate-virtue booths. The exhibits within the venue are largely constructed of highly flammable, however recyclable, plywood.

Within seconds, the very people lecturing the world about ditching oil and gas were fleeing a building being saved by diesel-powered fire trucks and fossil-fuelled water pumps.

Attendees were then forced to wait in the rain until the fire got under control.

Brazilian officials say the fire is now under control and, thankfully, no one was hurt. Emergency crews moved fast, because unlike the delegates’ dreamworld, you can’t put out a real fire with carbon credits and a panel discussion.

Tourism Minister Celso Sabino insisted the incident shouldn’t raise questions about Belém’s ability to host COP30. Investigators are now looking at whether the blaze came from an electrical short, a booth generator, or yet another piece of “green tech” that wasn’t ready for prime time.

The evacuation halted negotiations at a crucial moment — including talks on phasing out the very fuels that just prevented this summit from becoming a bigger disaster.

You couldn’t script it better.

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Sheila Gunn Reid

Chief Reporter

Sheila Gunn Reid is the Alberta Bureau Chief for Rebel News and host of the weekly The Gunn Show with Sheila Gunn Reid. She's a mother of three, conservative activist, and the author of best-selling books including Stop Notley.

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COMMENTS

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  • Bruce Atchison
    commented 2025-11-20 23:53:19 -0500
    The fire set off God’s sprinkler system. ☺
  • Bernhard Jatzeck
    commented 2025-11-20 21:23:15 -0500
    See? Climate change is now so severe, it sets a conference about it on fire. (sarcasm = off)
  • Ruth Bard
    commented 2025-11-20 17:15:32 -0500
    What an unqualified gong show COP 30 has been. The UN climate bedwetters have outed themselves as incompetent nincompoops and pathological liars.