They are the ones who suffer the consequences of global warming and, nevertheless, they may not participate completely in the next global climate conference. The small states of the island regret the “prohibitive costs” associated with the next COP30 of Belem in Brazil and fear having to reduce the size of its delegations due to insequible housing, said its representative in AFP on Friday.
“We do not have the luxury of great budgets at our disposal to guarantee our participation,” said the representative of these countries of the Caribbean, Pacific, Africa or the Indian Ocean, often exposed to the emergence of waters or cyclones.
The UN climate conference will take place in November in Belem, a city of Amazon of 1.3 million inhabitants without a great hotel offer.
More than $ 1,200 per night
It is above all prices that excite the controversy to less than 100 days from the event, so much that some countries have asked to transfer it to another city and that the Austrian head of state has surrendered, citing “exceptionally high costs.”
In recent months, AFP has seen that hotels have offered rooms at 1,200 euros per night. On the Airbnb housing reserve platform, certain offers went even further.
The platform assured the AFP that “it promised to multiply the efforts to raise awareness about the local host community and encourage responsible practices,” and said that “from November 2023 to June 2025, housing ads on the platform in the Belem region experienced a significant increase, from 1,000 to 6,100, which represents approximately 19,000 beds.”
The Presidency of COP30, which does not intend to move the event, offers accommodation at reduced prices for developing countries and islanders, especially in the form of cabins on the cruises.
But the price of these rooms is “always higher” than the package granted for UN travelers, regrets Ilana Seid. “The assignment of 15 rooms by delegation is also alarming, which means that many of our countries would be forced to reduce the size of their delegation,” he fears.
The president of Cop30, André Corrêa do Lago, acknowledged in early August that there were “extreme concerns” and that “reducing delegations is not what Brazil wants because we need a very intense and productive police.”
“We are trying to find the solutions to this prize question,” he told reporters.
Source: BFM TV
