With less than five months to go until COP30 kicks off in the Amazon city of Belém, African and Pacific island nations have told the Brazilian government they are worried that the sky-high cost of lodgings could compromise their participation in the UN climate talks in November.
Speaking at a press conference last week in Bonn, where countries gathered for mid-year talks, Richard Muyungi, chair of the African Group of Negotiators (AGN), said the issue of accommodation in Belém was causing “big concerns” for several delegations, including some countries that are the most vulnerable to climate change impacts.
“I have written a letter to the COP presidency expressing our concerns. We have had discussions with the COP presidency with the assurance that they are going to look at how they can accommodate our concerns,” said the Tanzanian negotiator.
Ilana Seid, chair of the AOSIS group of small island states, said in a statement that their representatives -who are already facing travel challenges – “have not received firm solutions to address the issue of astronomical costs of the already limited accommodation options”.
Brazil’s Belém races to make room for COP30 influx
The chair of the group of Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Evans Njewa of Malawi, told Climate Home that its members had also expressed accessibility concerns and spoken “several times” about the issue with the COP30 presidency in Bonn.
Panamanian negotiator Juan Carlos Monterrey said in a social media post in late June that he was worried that COP30 could become “the most inaccessible COP in recent memory”.
Prices on Booking.com for a three-star hotel in Belém can exceed $5,000 per person during the first week of COP30 from November 10 to 16, while rental apartments on Airbnb are being advertised for over $430 a night.
Amazon forest COP
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva chose Belém as the COP30 host city over two years ago, in a push to put the Amazon rainforest at the centre of the UN climate talks. Since then, the city has been scrambling to provide enough new rooms and transport for the more than 50,000 expected participants.
Some delegates are expected to sleep in river cruise boats, converted classrooms, tents and even love hotels, as the city of 1.3 million looks for creative solutions to the massive influx of visitors.
Motel entrepreneur Yorann Costa shows a room at his motel where he plans to host visitors attending COP30 climate summit in Belem, Brazil March 27, 2025. (Photo: REUTERS/Raimundo Pacco)
COP organisers have promised at least 24,000 extra beds in Belem, as well as an official accommodation platform that was commissioned in late May. The online platform had yet to be launched as of early July.
One source with knowledge of the situation said it will not be released for at least six more weeks while another source said the reason for the delay is a lack of accommodation to advertise on the platform.