Every year the United Nations puts on a massive, tightly stage-managed climate summit. And every year, Rebel News shows up — invited or not. We do it for one reason: someone has to be there to hold the UN, the politicians, and the lobbyists to account.

This year it’s in Belém, Brazil. And, as always, it’s the same cast of characters: tens of thousands of bureaucrats, diplomats, politicians and lobbyists flying in to tell everyone else to use less, travel less, eat less and pay more. They love to do these in luxury locations — Bali, Kyoto, Marrakech — and now they’re flocking to the edge of the Amazon.

Rebel News is sending Chief Reporter Sheila Gunn Reid and videographer Kian Simone to Belém, to show you the side of the conference they really don’t want you to see. Because the most revealing part of these UN conferences is never the scripted speeches — it’s everything that happens around the conference. They talk about cutting emissions and then arrive by private jet. They demand “sacrifice” and then get chauffeured around town to wine and dine in luxury. They brag about “green power” and then you follow the power cables and see it’s all running on diesel.

Brazil is “free enough” that we can do real journalism there — so we’re going. But this summit is enormous. The UN itself expects 50,000–53,000 people. When you bring that many lobbyists and politicians to one city, they soak up every hotel room, every Airbnb, and they're even using cruise ships moored nearby as hotels. The irony is breathtaking: to host a conference telling farmers and homeowners to “scale back,” they literally cut a road through the Amazon to make it easier for VIPs to get to the venue. That’s exactly the kind of hypocrisy Sheila is so good at exposing.

You can follow along and see all of Sheila and Kian's reports at www.RebelUN.com, our special website for reporting on the United Nations, where you can also see our reporting from past UN conferences.

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Here’s the challenge: getting two independent Canadian journalists into northern Brazil for a sold-out UN summit isn’t cheap. Flights (Edmonton → Toronto → Belém and back) are just under $5,000. The Airbnb for three nights is about $2,500 because the city is jammed. Add in ground transport, food, mobile data to upload video, and maybe a local translator, and we’re looking at $8,500–$9,000 all-in.

We don’t take a dime from the government — which is why we can criticize Ottawa’s climate posturing and the UN’s overreach. But it also means we have to crowdfund trips like this. If you want independent Canadian journalists — not government-funded media — on the ground in Belém asking the questions the press gallery won’t, please chip in today.

Thank you for helping us tell the other side of the story.

Sheila and Kian have to travel for two days just to get there and two more days to get back home — all in economy class and with long layovers. (Thank you, Sheila and Kian!)

We really do need to raise the full $8,500–$9,000 to make this mission happen. If you can help — $25, $50, $100 or more — please chip in a donation now.

Reports from past UN conferences

18:45

Deplorable conditions surrounding upscale UN Climate Change Conference in Brazil

03:37

WE CAUGHT THEM! UN climate elites dumped their conference garbage on a poor Brazilian neighbourhood

05:53

Inside the UN Climate Conference's 'Green Zone': A Trade Show of Hypocrisy

02:39

Climate Crusaders Fortify Venue, Activists Storm the UN’s Climate Conference in Belém

02:49

Welcome to Fart Park: Belem’s Sewage-Covered Mirage for the UN Climate Conference

03:09

Belém Airport Turns Into a Luxury Jet Hub for the UN Climate Summit

02:20

Floating hotels, raw sewage & UN hypocrisy in Belém

03:17

We Found the UN’s 'Climate Highway' Through the Amazon

1:59

We've finally arrived in Belém — and were greeted with climate scolding at the airport

Rebel News is heading to Brazil to expose the UN’s climate hypocrisy!

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