Brazil tackles COP30 hotel costs, under pressure from developing nations

By Manuela Andreoni

SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazil assured worried governments on Wednesday it has organized enough rooms to accommodate the tens of thousands of people crowding into the rainforest city of Belem for the United Nations climate summit in November, even as its listings still fell short of the country's own projections for attendance.

Valter Correia, Brazil's special secretary for the summit, known as COP30, laid out a plan to prioritize the needs of developing countries and island nations whose representatives expressed outrage during a conference in Bonn, Germany, that Belem's sky-high accommodation prices might exclude them from COP30.

"What we are guaranteeing is that everyone can come at accessible prices," he said. "We can't leave small countries, countries that most suffer with issues related to climate change, out of this thing, it would be absolutely unthinkable."

Environmental activists from around the globe had eagerly awaited Brazil's turn to host the climate summit after three years in which the conference was held in countries without full freedom for public demonstrations.  

Brazil chose Belem for the climate talks to focus attention on the world's disappearing rainforests, but civil society groups have been warning for months that a lack of accommodations in the Amazonian city would create barriers for many.

Authorities have already identified more than 30,000 rooms available in the city, Correia said, compared to an estimate of 20,000 that United Nations officials told their Brazilian counterparts were required to accommodate delegations, journalists and observers.  

Still, the figure falls short of the demand from the 45,000 attendees at COP30 that Correia had projected earlier this year. He said on Wednesday that he expects Belem to meet additional demand as more private homes, hotel rooms, and alternative options, such as repurposed schools, become available.

The United Nations climate change office, UNFCCC, declined a request to confirm the number. 

This week, Brazil also launched a booking website with 1,500 rooms for a group of 98 developing countries and island nations, priced between $100 and $220 a night, Correia said. 

Another 1,000 rooms will be added to the platform soon, open to all delegations, he added, with prices of up to $600 a night. The platform will later be open to everyone else. Brazil also said it has signed a contract for 3,900 cabins in two cruise ships that will park at the port city for the COP. 

Correia said he also expects civil society groups to find adequate accommodations. While his office is fighting price gouging, he added, it won't be able to offer everyone rooms at lower prices.

(Reporting by Manuela Andreoni, additional reporting from Kate Abnett in BrusselsEditing by Brad Haynes and Aurora Ellis)