BRASILIA/BRUSSELS, Nov 1 – With just a week to go before the COP30 climate summit, many countries are still without accommodations for their delegations. The host nation, Brazil, is offering free cabins on cruise ships to help poorer nations attend.
About 50,000 delegates are expected to gather in the rainforest city of Belem from November 10–21 to discuss climate goals. However, logistical issues have arisen, as Belem has only 18,000 hotel beds. This shortage has led to skyrocketing hotel prices, with some exceeding several hundred dollars per night.
As of October 31, the Brazilian government reported that 149 countries had secured lodging, while 37 were still in negotiations.
BRAZIL COMMITMENT TO INCLUDE ALL VOICES
Brazil is committed to ensuring that the world's poorest and most climate-vulnerable countries have a voice at the U.N. summit. Rising accommodation costs prompted the U.N. to hold emergency meetings to address concerns from African nations and small island states, which expressed that they might not afford to participate, even after Brazil and the U.N. offered hotel subsidies.
A leaked email obtained by Reuters revealed that Brazil recently proposed three free cabins on cruise ships docked in Belem for delegations from low-income countries. The email, sent by the U.N. climate secretariat (UNFCCC), stated that these cabins would be funded by "private donors" and the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, and managed by Brazil's government in collaboration with the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP).
According to the email, "These cabins will be offered free of cost to your delegation" and are additional to existing reservations.
Neither the UNFCCC nor the UNDP has commented on the matter.
Last week, COP30 president Andre Correa do Lago mentioned that the free cabins would be made available to African countries, small island nations, and Least Developed Countries — approximately 96 nations in total based on Reuters' calculations.
"With this, we will have significant support so that all developing countries can be present at the COP," Correa do Lago stated.
Additionally, some wealthier European countries have indicated they might not attend this year’s global climate discussions due to accommodation prices exceeding $500 per person per night.