Hotel prices lead countries to consider skipping COP30 climate summit in Brazil

A boy kicks a soccer ball near signage for the COP30 U.N. Climate Conference in Belem, Brazil. (AP Photo/File)

Dozens of countries have yet to secure accommodation at next month’s COP30 climate summit in Brazil and some delegates are considering staying away as a shortage of hotels has driven prices to hundreds of dollars per night.

Small island states on the frontline of rising sea levels are confronted with having to consider reducing the size of delegations they send to Belem, while two European nations said they were considering not attending at all.

COP30 organisers are racing to convert love motels, cruise ships and churches into lodgings for an anticipated 45,000 delegates.

Brazil chose to hold the climate talks at Belem, which typically has 18,000 hotel beds available, in the hope its location on the edge of the Amazon rainforest would focus attention on the threat climate change poses to this ecosystem, and its role in absorbing climate-warming emissions.

LATVIA SAYS ROOMS ARE TOO EXPENSIVE

Latvia’s climate minister told Reuters the country has asked if its negotiators could dial in by video call.

”We already basically have a decision that it’s too expensive for us,” Melnis said. ”It’s the first time it’s so expensive. We have a responsibility to our country’s budget.”

A second eastern European country, Lithuania, also said it may stay away after being quoted prices for accommodation exceeding $500 per person per night.

A spokesperson for Lithuania’s energy ministry, which covers climate affairs, said the legitimacy and quality of negotiations would suffer if governments could not attend because of the costs.

A spokesperson for Brazil’s COP30 presidency said the decision was up to each government.

COP30 HOTEL PRICES LEAVE DELEGATIONS OUT OF POCKET

Days after Brazil opened a booking platform in early August, the website showed rates from $360 to $4,400 a night. Prices this week started at $150 per night, the platform showed.

The host country has dismissed calls to relocate the summit and said it would provide 15 rooms priced below $220 per day for each developing country delegation, and below $600 for each wealthy nation delegation. The United Nations has also increased its subsidy to help low-income countries attend.

Less than six weeks out from COP30, 81 countries remain in negotiations over hotel rooms while 87 countries have reserved accommodation, according to Brazil’s COP30 Presidency.

Evans Njewa, chair of the Least Developed Countries group that represents the world’s poorest nations in U.N. climate talks, said it was still assessing countries’ attendance plans.

”We’re receiving a high volume of concerns … and numerous requests for support,” Njewa told Reuters. ”Regrettably, our capacity is limited, which may affect the size of delegations.”

CLIMATE ACTION UNDER THREAT

This year’s COP summit takes place after U.S. President Donald Trump has sought to lead a shift away from climate action and Europe’s priorities change as economies struggle.

Ilana Seid, chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, said the lack of affordable accommodation placed its members at a ”severe disadvantage”. Small island countries have used previous COPs to secure more funding to adapt to climate change.

Smaller delegations would leave island nations ”lacking expertise needed to effectively participate in the negotiations which decide our future,” Seid said.