Sawt Falasteen - 'Shocking' COP30 lodging costs heap pressure on Brazil

President President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has personally championed the symbolic choice of holding the major UN climate conference in the Amazon.

And with months to go before the November 10-21 meeting, work is in full swing, AFP journalists witnessed recently.

But members of national delegations, civil society, and the media have been faced with a major dilemma: how to find a room at a decent price?

"I've never seen anything quite like the situation unfolding in Belem. The soaring accommodation prices, which mean it will now cost thousands of dollars a night for even basic rooms," Mariana Paoli, with the NGO Christian Aid, told AFP.

The steep rates are "not just shocking, it is exclusionary," said Paoli, a Brazilian who has attended several UN climate summits before.

"Delegates from across the Global South, particularly grassroots activists, Indigenous leaders, and civil society groups, already face immense barriers to participation... Now, they're being priced out entirely."

In recent months, AFP has seen hotels offering rooms at $1,200 a night. On short-term rental platform Airbnb, some rates were even higher.

With a total of 50,000 people expected to attend, Claudio Angelo of the Brazilian Climate Observatory collective warned that delegations are mulling cutting back on the number of attendees.

"Everybody's concerned because at this point, five months to the date, everybody should have hotels and no one has," he told AFP in Bonn, Germany, where technical negotiations have been held over the past two weeks.

- CEO rules out relocation -

Brazil is no stranger to hosting major events, particularly in Rio de Janeiro.

After the 2016 Olympic Games and last year's G20 summit, Rio will host a summit of the BRICS group of emerging economies next month.

Some have speculated about a possible last-minute move to a large city, maybe Rio.

COP30 chief Ana Toni, while sharing concerns over the lodging, ruled out any last-minute relocation to a larger city.

"Let's be very very clear, it's all happening in Belem," she told AFP in Bonn.

Toni, who also serves as Brazil's national secretary for climate change, said that the government was aware and working on solutions.

In response to the emergency, Brazilian authorities are trying to put pressure on the hotel sector.

The National Consumer Rights Bureau (Senacon) has summoned the main hotels in Belem for an inquiry into "possible abusive pricing practices," leading to accusations from the sector of "threats."

A negotiator from the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) said she had received assurances from the COP30 presidency that they would receive assistance with their accommodation.

"But we have not received any communication or proposal on how this might work," she said with concern.

Several months behind schedule, an official platform offering a total of "29,000 rooms and 55,000 beds" is supposed to go online at the end of June.

Nearly half will be short-term rentals (25,000 beds), and participants will even be able to stay "on two cruise ships, with a total of 3,882 cabins and 6,000 beds."

- 'Under the stars' -

Organizers have already sought to ease pressure on Belem by organizing this year's heads of state summit before the actual COP, on November 6 and 7.

But Lula, who is seeking to position himself as a climate champion, did not hesitate to respond sarcastically to critics.

"If there are no five-star hotels, sleep in a four-star hotel. If there are no four-star hotels, sleep in a three-star hotel. And if not, sleep under the stars," Lula said sarcastically in February during a visit to Belem.

As at last year's UN biodiversity summit in Cali, Colombia, delegates will at least be able to enjoy an unusual option: more than 1,600 beds are available in "motels," establishments usually reserved for romantic trysts and rooms rented by the hour.

"We are adapting our establishments to accommodate visitors for overnight stays," said Ricardo Teixeira of the Brazilian Association of Motels for the State of Para.

Adapted, but not altered: some rooms will retain pole dancing bars, indoor pools or jacuzzis.

A.AbuSaada--SF-PST