Brazil refuses to cover UN hotel costs for COP30

Brazil’s government has ruled out subsidising hotel costs for delegates attending the COP30 climate summit in Belém this November, despite growing concerns over soaring accommodation prices.

Officials said the U.N. climate secretariat (UNFCCC) had asked Brazil to provide subsidies of $100 per day for delegates from developing countries and $50 for those from richer nations. Miriam Belchior, executive secretary to the president’s chief of staff, firmly rejected the idea

“The Brazilian government is already bearing significant costs for hosting the COP, so there is no way to subsidise delegations from other countries, including countries that are far richer than Brazil,” Belchior told reporters after a tense meeting with U.N. officials.

Accommodation shortages in the Amazonian city have pushed prices far above normal, with hotels charging two to twenty times higher than the $144 daily allowance for poorer nations’ delegates. Some businesses have converted ferryboats and even love motels into temporary lodging, but supply remains insufficient.

Despite calls to move the summit elsewhere, Belchior said relocating COP30 was “out of the question,” instead urging the U.N. to raise its allowances. The UNFCCC has so far resisted, citing procedural delays.

So far, 39 countries have booked accommodation through the official COP30 platform, while eight others have arranged stays independently.

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