With less than three months left to start COP30 in Belém, delegations from only 39 countries have confirmed their reservations on the federal government’s hosting platform.
Another eight have already found accommodations on the outside. In this last group Egypt, Spain, Portugal, Republic of Congo, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Norway are in this group. That is, of 196 planned delegations, only 47 already have the accommodation confirmed.
“The Brazilian government has made it clear that there is no condition of change of host city,” said the executive secretary of the Civil House, Miriam Belchior, who attended a meeting with a team of the United Nations (UN).
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Analysts and delegations participants who usually go to the climate conferences say that by this time of year, hosting reserves were already advanced in other editions.
Given the scenario, the Brazilian government will create a task force to directly assist in the negotiation of lodging for foreign delegations in Belém during COP30. This Friday, 22, Brazil denied a UN request to subsidize the accommodation of countries and asked the entity to expand financial aid given to nations to participate in the conference.
Expansion of accommodation on the platform
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According to the Brazilian government, new lodging options are being incorporated into the official platform. Currently, according to the organization, there are over 2,600 rooms available in the range of up to $ 600.
COP’s organization also said it is doing extra negotiations to account for the demand. Options include adaptation of schools for operation such as hostel, “expanding the options for different delegations profiles.”
Another topic addressed at the meeting was the relocation of people hosted on ships to other accommodation if COP30 extend more than expected, which usually happens in most editions. The Brazilian government has ensured that if this happens, these people will be destined for other accommodations. COP30 Extraordinary Secretary Valter Correia said that the availability of beds will not be a problem since historically the flow of people is lower at the end of the conference.
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During a meeting with the UN team, Brazil argued that the UN leaves the “comfort zone” and offers solutions. The Brazilian government supported a claim from the poorest countries for increased rates paid by the UNFCC, UN environmental arm, for reserves in COP.
COP30 has been living a hosting crisis due to the exorbitant price increase. In some cases, reserves for the event period, from November 10 to 21, arrived at home of more than $ 1 million. In this scenario, 29 countries signed a letter asking the Brazilian government to change the city headquarters. Brazil, in turn, reiterates that COP30 will take place in Belém.
This Friday, the Brazilian government attended a meeting with the UNFCCC team to answer 48 questions about the logistics of COP30.
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UN subsidy
The UN even asked Brazil to provide financial assistance to the conference participating countries. The proposal was denied by the Brazilian organization.
The Brazilian government said it has made other investments to hold the conference and that it would be impracticable to finance the participation of other nations.
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“The Brazilian government has positioned itself that it is already bearing significant costs to carry out COP and, therefore, there is no way to support delegations from countries and countries that are even richer than Brazil. It is not for Brazilians to subsidize other countries,” said Miriam Belchior.
The UN proposed that Brazil finance $ 100 for less developed and island countries and another range of values, which was not detailed by the secretary, for the other participants.
“We clearly say that Brazil has no condition, but that (we support) this proposal for the UN to rise a little the contribution it makes,” he said.
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She states that the UN set at $ 144 the value of the subsidy for Belém, but in other countries, such as Germany, where the Bonn conference, a preparatory for COP, was $ 400.
“In any other city in the world they would pay, so why don’t they pay in Belém? We’re not asking for Bonn’s $ 400, we are asking what would be in Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro, which is $ 250,” Miriam argued.
The representatives of the Brazilian government stated that the UN justified that the change in values would require time.
“What we ask is that they would do a reconsideration, that we are supporting (the claim), that they (the UN) could also help us, get out of this more technical part, more protocol and that could focus efforts with the host country to find solutions. They get some of their comfort zone so that they can make a better or greater contribution in this regard of solutions,” said Correia.
Despite the impasse, the reading of the Brazilian government is that the meeting served to calm the spirits.
“Due to the answers sent, it lowered the temperature a little,” said Miriam Belchior.
The secretary cited the Unified Health System (SUS) as one of the benefits of Brazil being the host country. Which will facilitate assistance to conference participants. According to the Brazilian government, the security plan was also approved by the UN.
Task force
In this context, Brazil will create a task force with employees of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Tourism, the Environment and Climate Change; and with members of the COP Secretariat to assist foreign delegations in lodging negotiations.
“The idea is that we have a group of people who can call the UN’s own focus poles in these countries to ask, know what is happening and see what we can solve,” explained COP30 Extraordinary Secretary Valter Correia.
According to him, Brazil will contact the poorest countries first, which have been the most affected by the accommodation crisis, and then to others to “find an alternative with local knowledge.”
“The state government has a vast knowledge of condominiums, people (with rental properties), who can help,” he said.
In practical terms, Brazil has flexed reserve dates on the official platform. There was a complaint that countries could only make a reservation for the fixed period of 15 days. From the complaint, the government will make available ten -day packages, which can be reserved in blocks.
