COP30: How Soaring Hotel Prices Could Keep Vulnerable Countries Out of Global Climate Talks
Photo Credit: Belém, in Brazil, will host the upcoming global climate talks, COP30. But there is a shortage of accommodation. Evandro Maia Neves
Skift Take
COP30’s accommodation crunch highlights the risks destinations face when demand far outstrips supply, offering a cautionary lesson for host cities on balancing market forces, reputation, and the need for inclusive participation.
Skyrocketing hotel rates this November in Belém, Brazil threaten to shut out delegates from the world’s poorest and most vulnerable nations from the global climate talks, COP30. Some rates are nearing $2,000 a night.
The UN climate conference will bring together world leaders, officials, businesses and scientists to work out how best to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to slow down global warming.
It runs from November 10 - 21, and will draw 45,000 participants to a city in the Amazon rainforest with fewer than 20,000 hotel beds.
That supply crunch has created fertile ground for price surges, nightly rates go far beyond the UN-covered daily-expenses allowance of $166.
Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, president of COP30, said in reports that “some hotels in Belém are charging up to 15 times their normal daily rates.” He called the practice abusive and warned it has “caused diplomatic dis
