The Brazilian government says it has offered accommodation for COP30 costing no more than $220 a night to representatives of some of the world’s poorest countries after African and Pacific delegations aired big concerns over the lack of affordable lodgings in the city of Belém.

Many of the rooms are offered on two cruise ships that will be docked in the Port of Outeiro – a 30-minute ride from the venue of the climate summit – providing 3,900 cabins and 6,000 beds. “These two large ships are part of a variety of lodging options designed to accommodate all COP30 attendees,” said Valter Correia, the special secretary for COP30 overseeing logistics for the summit.

In a statement, Brazil’s COP30 Presidency team said that these lodgings would first be offered to 98 of the “smallest developing countries and island nations”, with delegates from other countries able to book accommodation costing up to $600 a night at an unspecified time in the future.

Climate Home spoke to four climate negotiators from African and Pacific nations. None were satisfied with the COP30 presidency’s statement, saying that it came too late and the price caps were still too high and would price some developing countries out of participating.

A fifth negotiator – Adão Soares Barbosa from the Southeast Asian country of Timor-Leste – told Climate Home that his room has not been booked and $220 a night is “still too much for developing countries”.

Brazil’s Belém races to make room for COP30 influx

A spokesperson for the COP30 presidency told Climate Home the accommodation platform is “operational”, but it can only be accessed by those specifically invited to submit their information.

Anne Rasmussen, lead climate negotiator for the small island group AOSIS, told Climate Home that she had “seen the reports” on this offer and welcomed this initiative but was awaiting “formal communication” from the COP30 presidency.

Asked by email if only cruise ship cabins are listed on the platform, the COP30 presidency did not answer directly, saying only that “available accommodation will include all modalities such as hotels, vacation rentals and ships among others”.

Response to backlash

The COP30 Presidency statement comes three weeks after African and Pacific island nations said publicly that they were concerned that the cost of rooms could prevent them from joining in negotiations at COP30, where issues like adapting to climate change and transitioning away from fossil fuels will be discussed.

The United Nations subsidises the costs of up to three people from some developing countries – least developed countries and small island developing states – to attend COP talks. But the payment, known as a daily subsistence allowance (DSA), is capped based on living costs.

For the city of Belém, UN guidelines – which are not specific to COP – say the DSA should be $149 a day. The UN’s climate arm – which has a severely limited budget – has not said if this limit will be raised for the COP. An increase would involve the International Civil Service Commission, which sets the rates.

Because of the DSA rate, one negotiator representing one of the 98 governments offered the $220 cap said that “even with this supposed $220 price point, it’s still far beyond what most delegates can reasonably cover”.

“That doesn’t even account for the high cost of food and drinks at the venue”, they said, adding that if delegates are spending all of their DSA on accomodation then “they’re essentially being forced to pay out of pocket for everything else.”

“An exclusive COP”

“This is increasingly shaping up to be an exclusive COP where only those with big budgets can attend,” they said. “Civil society and media participation seem like an afterthought, and that’s incredibly worrying.”

Another negotiator from one of the 98 governments offered the cap agreed, saying that “wealthy countries are always OK” and “the rich developing countries will send limitless delegates” but “the poor will send however many are paid for”.

Negotiators from the 57 developing countries who were not offered the $220 a night cap were also dissatisfied. “$600 is way above the limit we have for our per person costs,”said one official from an African state, “it’s going to be really hard for us to participate if the accommodation situation is not resolved”.

“None of our delegation has booked as of yet and we’re urgently trying to resolve it but it’s just really expensive as of now”, they added.

Another from this group of 57 said the process for choosing which countries were offered the $220 a night cap was “opaque”. They pointed out that some countries whose governments were offered the cap have higher per person incomes than some of those who were not.

Kenya, which has been offered the cap, has a gross domestic product (GDP) per person nearly three times higher than that of Nigeria, which has not been offered the cap.

Asked about the criteria for choosing the 98 nations, the COP30 Presidency said it is “made up primarily of nations with lower development indices and small island developing states, as defined by the United Nations’ technical categories of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).” They did not explain why countries like Kenya, Sri Lanka and Nicaragua – who are not LDCs or SIDS – were chosen.

While rooms in Belém are listed on Airbnb for the COP30 dates for less than $100 a night, most governments and many companies and NGOs have rules against booking Airbnbs due to safety and other concerns.

Cruise ship emissions

Green shipping campaigners also criticised the pollution involved in using cruise ships to host COP30 delegates. The two ships – MSC Seaview and Costa Diadema – will rely on their onboard generators to power their air conditioners, televisions and other equipment, a COP30 spokesperson said, adding that “these generators use different types of fuel, ranging from conventional diesel to biodiesel.”

Together, the two ships emit over 140,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent a year, according to EU data – more than entire Pacific island nations like Nauru and Kiribati.

Lucy Gillam, who runs an NGO called One Planet Port, told Climate Home the cruise ships are “a climate disaster” with a much higher carbon footprint than staying in a hotel. “I think it makes a farce of the COP,” she said.

Asked how people living near the cruise ships in Outeiro would be protected from the ships’ air pollution, the COP30 presidency did not respond directly. But their emailed response, a spokesperson said that all carbon emissions will be “fully offset, ensuring that COP30 is delivered as a net-zero-emissions conference”.