Brazil scrambles for rooms to host COP30 in Amazon
BELEM
Brazil insisted on July 16 it will have enough rooms for the tens of thousands of people expected to attend the COP30 U.N. climate conference in the Amazonian city of Belem in November.
After complaints about sky-high room prices in the far-flung destination, organizers said they would guarantee affordable accommodation for delegates and participants from poor countries.
At least 40,000 people are expected to attend the Nov. 10-21 event in Belem, known as the gateway to the Amazon rainforest, according to government estimates from the start of the year.
Around 30,000 potential rooms have been "identified" for use during the conference, the event's secretary Valter Correia said, including 3,900 on two cruise ships.
There will also be rooms in hotels, private homes, and at universities and schools to be converted for the first-ever climate COP to be held in the Amazon.
They will include 1,500 rooms priced at no more than $220 per night for delegates from 98 developing and island nations, Correia said.
Another 1,000 rooms will be priced at no more than $600 per night, and the government was negotiating with the private sector to set "reasonable prices" for other accommodation, said Correia.
"We will have sufficient accommodations for everyone, have no doubt about that. We just need to set appropriate prices," Correia told journalists.
In recent months, some hotels in Belem have been offering rooms at $1,400 per night.
