With less than five months to go until COP30 kicks off in the Amazon city of Belém, African and Pacific island nations have told the Brazilian government they are worried that the sky-high cost of lodgings could compromise their participation in the UN climate talks in November.
Speaking at a press conference last week in Bonn, where countries gathered for mid-year talks, Richard Muyungi, chair of the African Group of Negotiators (AGN), said the issue of accommodation in Belém was causing “big concerns” for several delegations, including some countries that are the most vulnerable to climate change impacts.
“I have written a letter to the COP presidency expressing our concerns. We have had discussions with the COP presidency with the assurance that they are going to look at how they can accommodate our concerns,” said the Tanzanian negotiator.
Ilana Seid, chair of the AOSIS group of small island states, said in a statement that their representatives -who are already facing travel challenges – “have not received firm solutions to address the issue of astronomical costs of the already limited accommodation options”.
The chair of the group of Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Evans Njewa of Malawi, told Climate Home that its members had also expressed accessibility concerns and spoken “several times” about the issue with the COP30 presidency in Bonn.
Panamanian negotiator Juan Carlos Monterrey said in a social media post in late June that he was worried that COP30 could become “the most inaccessible COP in recent memory”.
Prices on Booking.com for a three-star hotel in Belém can exceed $5,000 per person during the first week of COP30 from November 10 to 16, while rental apartments on Airbnb are being advertised for over $430 a night.
Amazon forest COP
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva chose Belém as the COP30 host city over two years ago, in a push to put the Amazon rainforest at the centre of the UN climate talks. Since then, the city has been scrambling to provide enough new rooms and transport for the more than 50,000 expected participants.
Some delegates are expected to sleep in river cruise boats, converted classrooms, tents and even love hotels, as the city of 1.3 million looks for creative solutions to the massive influx of visitors.
COP organisers have promised at least 24,000 extra beds in Belem, as well as an official accommodation platform that was commissioned in late May. The online platform had yet to be launched as of early July.
One source with knowledge of the situation said it will not be released for at least six more weeks while another source said the reason for the delay is a lack of accommodation to advertise on the platform.
COP30 president André Aranha Corrêa Do Lago has defended Lula’s decision to host the talks in Belém, saying it will showcase the “extraordinary role” of rainforests in the fight against climate change. In a briefing to other governments in Bonn about the logistics of the Belem summit, COP30 special secretary Valter Correia said Brazil has “a long history of making happen what many think is unlikely”.
Brazil’s environment minister suggests roadmap to end fossil fuels at COP30
To ease pressure on the city’s logistics, the Brazilian government decided to bring forward the high level section at the start of the summit, where heads of state deliver speeches and set the tone for negotiations. The World Leaders’ Summit is now scheduled to take place on November 6 and 7, several days before COP30 talks officially kick off on November 10.
“We will continue pushing the Brazilian government to make sure we get appropriate treatment in terms of accommodation and, of course, transport,” AGN chair Muyungi said in Bonn. This is important, he added, because negotiators need to return to their rooms at late hours, as sessions can extend beyond midnight.
Participation concerns
At the mid-year talks in Bonn, the difficulty of finding affordable accommodation in Belém was a major talking point in informal conversations. Campaigners have been raising the issue for months, arguing that the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people could end up being excluded from the UN summit because they cannot pay for a room. And those with higher incomes are struggling too.
“I want to go Belém but how?” one academic messaged Climate Home. “Do you have any idea for the accommodation – it seems very troublesome.”
One climate campaigner said the Christian NGO they work for was using its links with Brazilian churches to access accommodation, while another said their colleague had an aunt who had been able to organise – albeit expensive – accommodation.
One negotiator said their delegation thought it would be best to move the COP out of Belém to a bigger Brazilian city – like São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro. But that decision would be “deeply political” and the Brazilian government is unlikely to sanction it, they said.
The COP30 presidency had not responded to Climate Home’s request for comment by the time of publication.
The UN Climate Change secretariat pointed to its quarterly update, published during the June talks in Bonn, which referred to preparations for COP30. It noted in this document: “The secretariat has been working closely to help the [COP30] Presidency assess and address a range of challenges, including around accommodation availability and affordability, and transportation.“
Speaking at a press briefing in Bonn, Valter Correia, special secretary for COP30, said the Brazilian government has commissioned new buildings like Vila Lideres, with capacity of around 400 rooms, which will offer prices of around $100-$250 per night. The building will turn into a Pará state government building after COP30.
“I have confidence that we will reach enough (rooms). We have a good quantity already. We will reach enough (rooms) to allow for every country to participate with their whole delegation, without having to make cuts due to challenges posed by prices” Correia said.
Brazilian news outlet Sumaúma reported that government authorities told hotels in Belém to slash prices or they could risk other countries requesting a relocation of the event to a larger city.
Correia said during the press conference in Bonn that the Ministry of Justice has been ordered to assess whether prices are being inflated. If that is found to be the case, hotel owners could face fines and lose operating licenses, he added.
Belém’s electric bus controversy: a cautionary tale for COP30
Several sources suggested that a compromise could be to keep the two-day gathering of world leaders, which will take place on November 6 and 7, in Belém, but to move the COP30 negotiations and accompanying conference – from November 10-21 – to a bigger city. A COP30 Local Leaders Forum will take place in Rio de Janeiro on November 3-5.
The COP venue has changed at the last minute before. In October 2019, because of social unrest, Chile withdrew its offer to host the COP25 climate talks just over a month before they were scheduled to start. Two days later, Spain offered to host them in Madrid and the summit went ahead there relatively smoothly.
The post African and Pacific delegations air “big concerns” over COP30 accommodation appeared first on Climate Home News.
African and Pacific delegations air “big concerns” over COP30 accommodation
Fifty-six years after the first one rallied 20 million people across America, “we need to do things that make us feel more powerful.”
From our collaborating partner Living on Earth, public radio’s environmental news magazine, an interview by host Steve Curwood with environmental historian Adam Rome.
It was the second defeat for the Trump administration’s unusual litigation to stop states from acting on climate change.
In a setback to the Trump administration’s extraordinary legal campaign against state climate action, a federal judge threw out the Justice Department’s lawsuit seeking to prevent the state of Hawaii from suing oil companies for damages.
Judge Dismisses Trump Administration’s Bid to Block Hawaii Climate Lawsuit
Climate Change
DeBriefed 17 April 2026: Fossil-fuel power slumps | ‘Super’ El Niño warning | Afghanistan’s climate struggle
Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed.
An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change.
This week
Oil prices rebound
OIL UP AGAIN: Oil prices surged by more than 7% and back above $100 a barrel on Monday after US-Iran peace talks faltered and US president Donald Trump ordered the blockading of Iranian ports, reported BBC News. The jump came after prices fell last week in the wake of the announcement of a conditional two-week ceasefire, it said.
RESCUE PLANS: European countries unveiled plans to protect citizens and businesses from rising energy prices. Ireland announced a support package worth €505m, reported BBC News, while Germany agreed on measures worth €1.6bn, said Bloomberg. Meanwhile, Reuters reported on a draft EU proposal due to be unveiled next week that would see the bloc reduce electricity prices and roll out clean energy more quickly in response to the crisis.
UNSOLICITED ADVICE: Trump renewed his criticism of UK energy policy and called on the government to “drill, baby drill”, reported the Independent. Via social media, the president said: “Europe is desperate for energy, and yet the United Kingdom refuses to open North Sea oil, one of the greatest fields in the world. Tragic!!!” (See Carbon Brief’s recent factcheck of various false claims about the North Sea.)
Around the world
- C-WORD: Faced with pressure from the US, countries attending spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank were urged to “not mention the climate”, reported the Guardian. It added that plans to agree a new “climate change action plan” for the World Bank “may be shelved, along with substantive discussion of the climate crisis”.
- NEW DIRECTION: Péter Magyar’s landslide victory over Victor Orbán in Hungary’s elections “presents new opportunities for the country to reduce emissions and invest in clean energy”, reported Time. Carbon Brief explored what it means for European climate action.
- ‘FURNACE’ SUMMER: There was widespread coverage – including in the Boston Globe, ABC News, CNN, Euro Weekly News, Guardian and New Scientist – of warnings from meteorologists of the development of a “super” El Niño phenomenon that could ramp up temperatures and drive extreme weather.
- ANTALYA COP: The Turkish government unveiled the dates and venues for the “leaders’ summit” segment of November’s COP31 conference, according to Climate Home News.
- PACIFIC PRE-COP: Meanwhile, the Guardian reported that Tuvalu will host a special meeting of world leaders before the climate summit in Antalya.
€10bn a year
The amount of state support that French prime minister Sébastien Lecornu has pledged for electrification through to 2030 in a bid to reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels. In a speech late on Friday 10 April, Lecornu noted the figure amounted to a “doubling” of existing support.
Latest climate research
- Over a four-month period of 2023, more than 70% of editorials discussing net-zero in four right-leaning UK newspapers included “at least one misleading statement” | Climate Policy
- Air pollution from global transport currently has a net cooling effect that offsets 80% of the warming impact of the sector’s CO2 emissions | npj Climate and Atmospheric Science
- The incorporation of “observational constraints” into climate-model projections suggests that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation could weaken by 50% by 2100 in a medium-emissions scenario | Science Advances
(For more, see Carbon Brief’s in-depth daily summaries of the top climate news stories on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.)
Captured
Analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) found that global electricity generation from fossil fuels fell in the first month of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Across all countries with real-time electricity data outside of China, coal-fired power generation fell 3.5% and gas-fired power generation fell 4.0%, according to CREA. This was offset by a rise in solar power and wind generation, which increased by 14% and 8%, respectively. Hydropower generation also saw a small increase, the analysis showed, but this was “more than offset” by a drop in nuclear power generation.
Spotlight
How climate change affects Afghan lives
This week, Carbon Brief reports on the impact of climate change in Afghanistan, following deadly floods this year.
Earlier this month, heavy rains, flash floods and landslides struck large parts of Afghanistan, damaging thousands of homes, destroying crops, bridges and roads and taking nearly 100 lives.
The flooding – reported to have affected 74,000 people in 31 of 34 provinces – is the latest weather-related catastrophe to afflict the nation, whose communities have suffered the brunt of repeated flash floods, droughts and landslides in recent years.
Hameed Hakimi, non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center, told Carbon Brief the recent floods would hurt livelihoods and food security, noting reports of destroyed wheat and rice crops in the most affected eastern parts of the country. He said:
“This is common. For at least a decade now, [we have seen] these flash floodings and the damage that happens to rural life, farming, the disruption to crops…Flash flooding physically eats up the land. So, it not only damages where people live, but also people’s livelihoods, based on what they grow.”
The damage to crops will be felt acutely, he explained, given that food security in the landlocked nation is already strained by the blockage of its main transit trade artery through Pakistan and international sanctions that have frozen long-term development aid.
Speaking to Carbon Brief, Abdulhadi Achakzai, founding CEO of the Environmental Protection Trainings and Development Organization (EPTDO), an Afghan NGO, described flooding in Afghanistan as a “chronic situation”.
Achakzai, whose organisation runs projects that help urban and rural communities adapt to climate impacts, says climate change hurts the country in four key ways: extreme drought; extreme temperature; “natural hazards”, including landslides and dust storms; and, finally, flash flooding. He said:
“Climate change is a serious matter in Afghanistan. Every nation and every corner within this country is severely affected.”
Ranked 176 of 187 on the University of Notre Dame “global adaptation index”, Afghanistan is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change.
Average temperature across the country has increased from 12.2C in 1960 to 14.2C in 2024, according to the World Bank’s climate change knowledge portal. Drought is widespread, severe and persistent – harming food and water security in a nation of subsistence farmers.
Meanwhile, extreme weather events are the leading driver of internal displacement in the country. More than three-quarters of the 710,000 people who relocated within Afghanistan in 2024 did so driven by “environmental hazards”, such as drought and flood, according to a recent climate vulnerability assessment from the International Organization for Migration.
Finance struggles
Despite feeling the impacts of extreme weather, Afghanistan has been barred from UN climate negotiations and had limited access to climate finance since 2021. (The government attended COP29 in Baku as guests of the Azerbaijan hosts, but did not take part in formal negotiations.)
This is because the international community does not recognise the Taliban government, which resumed power in 2021, due to its record on human rights and its repression of women and girls in particular.
Almost all financing from key climate funds has been suspended, with the exception of a few projects where UN agencies and NGOs act simultaneously as a “requesting” and “implementation” partner.
Aid from UN climate funds fell from $5.9m annually over 2014-20 to $3.9m annually over 2021-24, according to recent analysis by the Berghof Foundation. Multilateral development banks provided a further $337m of funds badged as “climate finance” over 2021-23, it said.
By comparison, Afghanistan’s national climate plan, submitted to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2016, requested $17.4bn in climate finance over 2020-30. An updated national climate plan seen by Carbon Brief – completed in 2021 and later endorsed by the Taliban government, but not accepted by member governments of the UNFCCC – called for $20.6bn through to 2030.
Achakzai, whose organisation attends the COP climate summit each year in an observer capacity, has in the past been the sole delegate from Afghanistan to the conference.
He is calling on the UNFCCC to accept the country’s latest climate plan – and to find an “alternative solution” that would give the people of the country a voice in negotiations. He said:
“Every year we are losing hundreds, thousands of people because of climate change-related matters. Every year we are losing hundreds, thousands of hectares of crops. We are affected by [the decisions of] other countries. Why are we not part of this process?”
Watch, read, listen
BLOSSOM WATCHER: The Guardian reported on the successful search to find a researcher to continue Japan’s 1,200-year cherry blossom record.
COP OUT: Deutsche Welle spoke to experts to understand why India walked away from its bid to host COP33 in 2028.
‘BOMBS AND PORN’: The New Republic looked at who is set to benefit from the rapid build-out of energy-intensive AI datacentres.
Coming up
- 20-24 April: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) working group one report author meeting, Santiago, Chile
- 22 April: Earth day
- 22 April: Launch of third edition of the Lancet Countdown’s Europe report
- 24-29 April: First conference on transitioning away from fossil fuels, Santa Marta, Colombia
Pick of the jobs
- International Organization for Migration, senior thematic associate (climate action) | Salary: UN G-6 salary grade | Location: Dakar, Senegal
- Climate Action Network UK, several board member roles | Salary: Unknown. Location: Unknown
- UK Department for Energy, Food and Rural Affairs, G7 science lead | Salary: £56,375. Location: Bristol, London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne or York, UK
- Save the Children UK, senior climate change advisor | Salary: £62,000-£65,000. Location: London
DeBriefed is edited by Daisy Dunne. Please send any tips or feedback to debriefed@carbonbrief.org.
This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s weekly DeBriefed email newsletter. Subscribe for free here.
The post DeBriefed 17 April 2026: Fossil-fuel power slumps | ‘Super’ El Niño warning | Afghanistan’s climate struggle appeared first on Carbon Brief.
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