Only 40% of countries have booked lodging for COP30 UN climate meet in November
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A drone image showing the city of Belem in Brazil, which will play host to the November COP30 UN climate conference.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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- The UN will increase the "daily subsistence allowance" from $144 to $197 for COP30 delegates from 144 low-income countries due to high accommodation costs in Belem.
- Brazil is struggling to provide accommodation for the 45,000 attendees, with only 79 of nearly 200 countries having secured lodging less than two months before COP30.
- Despite concerns "COP30 could be 'the most exclusionary in history'," President Lula has resisted calls to move the conference, but UN subsidy increase will not cover costs entirely.
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SAO PAULO, Brazil - Less than two months before the COP30 UN climate conference in Brazil, only 40 per cent of nations have booked accommodation in the Amazon city of Belem, where prices have soared, organisers said on Sept 17.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva championed the holding of the global conference in the world’s largest rainforest, but he has come under pressure about the hotel chaos in the poor northern city.
Organisers reported in a statement that only 79 of 198 countries have secured lodging, while 70 others were still in negotiations for places to sleep during the November meeting.
Some 50,000 people are expected in Belem, home to 1.4 million residents – more than half of whom live in shantytowns.
With a shortage of traditional hotel rooms, conference organisers have scrambled to find alternative accommodation in private homes, universities and schools, and even two cruise ships docked in the harbour some 20km from the conference centre.
Mr Lula has batted away concerns and requests to move some events to other cities, saying in February that delegates can “sleep under the stars.”
COP30 could be “the most exclusionary in history” due to its prices, the Brazilian NGO Climate Observatory warned in August.
To ease the pressure, the United Nations is boosting its daily subsidy for delegates from 144 countries from US$144 (S$183) to US$197, a UN spokesperson confirmed on Sept 17.
The Brazilian government welcomed the move but said it would “not cover costs entirely.”
A hotel under construction in Brazil’s Belem in July 2025, ahead of the COP30 climate summit, which will see 50,000 delegates descend on the Amazon city.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The UN requires accommodation costs of US$100 a night for low-income nations – a number hard to come by in Belem on Airbnb, Booking.com, and the official accommodation platform.
To ease demand for hotel rooms, Brazil moved the meeting of heads of state to Nov 6 and 7, several days before the start of the wider conference – but this has not been enough to significantly bring down prices. AFP
