Belém is not without its charms, but who in their right mind would host COP here?
Belém is perched on the northern coast of Brazil, where the Amazon meets the Atlantic, it is a city of unique customs, colours, flavours and fragrances. Ringed by forest and wide, meandering rivers, this is the postcard-picture of the world’s largest rainforest. A fitting place to better understand the perils of climate change and deforestation, maybe. But what Belém is not, is a modern city. And in fewer than 100 days it is set to host the world’s leaders for the UN’s climate change conference, COP30. It should not.
The rain clouds that cling to the city and the wall of humidity that greets you as you arrive only add to the experiential nature of visiting Belém. Having been the entrepôt for Brazil’s rubber trade, the city was once one of the country’s richest, before entering a period of long decline. Now considered among the poorest of Brazil’s state capitals, only around 20 per cent of the 2.5 million population has access to proper sewage systems while 57 per cent of metropolitan residents live in favelas – or informal settlements – with precarious access to water and electricity. Although these problems have long existed, they now have a global audience. In November, tens of thousands of diplomats, delegates, activists, lobbyists, politicians and prime ministers are scheduled to arrive in Belém for the latest iteration of the UN conference – and the city is clearly not prepared for the onslaught.
With a dearth of hotel options, the price of accommodation is rocketing. Reports proliferate of simple – often grotty – accommodation being flogged for tens of thousands of US dollars. Sensing an opportunity, many residents have put their homes on Airbnb, while owners of the city’s ubiquitous “love hotels” – used for amorous fraternising – frantically engage in remodelling to cater to buttoned-up climate negotiators. The lack of suitable accommodation has prompted some officials to get creative: embassies in Brasília have bought houses in Belém, with a view to using them during the summit and then donating them to the city. The Brazilian government, meanwhile, is planning to park two cruise ships in the harbour to serve as floating hotels for the visiting delegations. These efforts won’t be enough. With prices still sky-high, the UN climate bureau held an emergency meeting, in which representatives of smaller, developing nations called on Brazil to relocate the event, possibly to the political capital, Brasília, or the commercial capital, São Paulo. They claimed the event had become prohibitively expensive.
The original decision to host COP30 in Belém came from the very top; upon his election in 2022, Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva frantically and effectively lobbied the UN for its selection. At the time, his logic was clear: the city would serve as a visual reminder of both the importance of nature in tackling climate change and the vulnerability of the communities most affected by it. Since then, the government has invested around $1bn (€862m) into getting the city ready, with substantial investments in sanitation, drainage, renovation and hospitality. Organisers, meanwhile, were quick to shoot down the requests to move the event to another location. “There is no Plan B” is now the official line. This attitude might come back to haunt them. As the clock ticks down, Brazil must either pull a rabbit out of the hat or risk having its landmark summit labelled a failure – even before negotiators start talking.
Bryan Harris is a journalist based in São Paulo. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.
