Expensive accommodation, combined with restricted funding and accreditation, are set to limit the participation of Global South climate activists in COP30, casting doubt on Brazil’s promise to host the most inclusive UN climate summit ever.
Civil society groups told Climate Home News that the COP30 presidency’s failure to make affordable lodgings available in the Amazon city is pricing out many activists from countries at the forefront of the climate crisis, who are struggling to pay their way.
Campaigners had been enthusiastically preparing for this year’s talks in Brazil after their ability to demonstrate was severely limited at the last three COPs hosted in Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan – authoritarian regimes with limited or no freedom to protest and poor human rights records.
But with basic rooms in Belém costing hundreds of dollars per night, many are being forced to stay at home this time around.
“Brazil has been a disappointment for a lot of us,” said Rachitaa Gupta, global coordinator of the Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice (DCJ), a network of over 200 organisations primarily from the Global South.
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“This was a key moment for us because for the first time in many years we have been able to organise a huge people’s movement and mobilisation on the ground,” she added. “But we have had to scale that down significantly.”
A COP30 presidency spokesperson told Climate Home that the Brazilian government is taking concrete measures to ensure broad civil society participation, with a particular focus on the Global South, and has been responding to concerns expressed by organisations.
The measures include making available lower cost accommodation in university dormitories, schools and temporary housing facilities, they said, as well as negotiating discounted rates with hotels and transport providers.
Lula aims to host “the best COP in history”
Since President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva first announced in early 2023 that Belém would host COP30, the Brazilian government has been talking up the symbolism of bringing the annual UN climate summit to the Amazon rainforest, which plays a vital role in absorbing planet-heating carbon and regulating the Earth’s climate.
“I leave Pará with the certainty that we will hold the best COP in history,” Lula said in February after he visited the northeastern state of Pará, whose capital is Belém.
Pará state governor, Helder Barbalho, told The Guardian in April that “it will be the COP with the greatest popular participation in history and that is something we have particularly encouraged”.
However, local hotels hiked rates to exorbitant levels in anticipation of high demand, despite efforts by the COP30 presidency to persuade them to bring them down. A deal was done to help developing-countries’ official delegations find cheaper accommodation at fixed rates, but those were not extended to non-governmental organisations, businesses or media.
Official booking platform late and “glitchy”
The DCJ’s Gupta said the logistical chaos has more to do with the COP presidency’s “complete planning failure”, rather than being an issue with an Amazon port city itself.
As room prices on commercial accommodation sites like Booking.com and Airbnb skyrocketed early this year, local officials insisted the market would “stabilise” once the COP30 team launched its own platform.
But when it finally appeared in mid-July after repeated delays, it was met with disappointment.
“There were frankly horrendous accommodation options that were very, very expensive,” Gupta said. She added that information is often “misleading” and those who managed to book couldn’t keep the accommodation because the system is “glitchy”.
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When civil society groups voiced their concerns with the presidency in August, Gupta said the COP30 team responded with a plan to convert large buildings, such as schools and offices, into shared accommodation.
“For us, this was problematic because we cannot be seen as an afterthought and it’s not fair that civil society is reduced to being put into dormitory-style accommodation, like some kind of cattle being hoarded,” she said.
She added that many Global South campaigners come from conservative cultures and find it difficult to share rooms in mixed settings.
Reduced numbers attending
As a result, NGOs are slimming down the size of their delegations compared to COP28 in Dubai and what they had originally planned for Belém.
According to Gupta, many people in the DCJ network have ultimately decided against attending COP30 because of the pricey accommodation on top of costly flights to get there.
“It is specifically disappointing because we had anticipated doubling participation this year,” Gupta added.
Mariano Villares, co-founder of the Argentine organisation Sustentabilidad Sin Fronteras, told Climate Home that five members of their team had been planning to travel to Belém “to make the most of the COP’s return to Latin America after 11 years” – but only two will now be able to go.
“The prices and conditions of accommodation drive out civil society from the Global South. The climate conversation loses diversity when the voices most affected by the impacts are left out,” he said.
Marina Agortimevor, coordinator of the Africa Just Transition Network, told Climate Home the network had sent more than 15 of its members from grassroots organisations to past climate talks. But this time, because of funding cuts and the high cost of accommodation, it can barely manage to send four members to Belém.
While this COP has been billed as an inclusive conference, “inclusivity is still based on what is in your pocket”, Agortimevor said.
Other African civil society groups told Climate Home funders who had supported their attendance at previous climate talks had backed out of financing their participation at COP30 due to the high costs.
Limited accreditation allocations
In addition, Agortimevor said some Africa Just Transition Network members have struggled to get accreditation for the COP in Brazil, another factor that appears to be working against the wide participation of civil society.
Sustentabilidad Sin Fronteras said it had received less than a third of the accreditations it got last year, also limiting the size of its delegation in Belém.
One Latin American organisation – which asked not to be named – said it would have to divide up the three badges it had received so that some team members can attend the first week and others the second. “Some people need to be there for both weeks due to the work being done, and this situation has limited our activities,” they said.
The lower number of accreditations is a trend heard from most of the Latin American organisations Climate Home spoke with. Some are seeking other ways to get their staff into the conference, such as asking their countries’ governments to register them as “party overflow”.
When asked about this issue by Climate Home, a UN official said requests for COP accreditation by NGOs had increased “significantly” in recent years, with 4,000 organisations now registered as observer groups. The size of COP venues, however, has stayed the same, meaning that “the portions available to each organisation naturally become smaller”.
“This is not about restricting participation for any particular group, but rather a reflection of the growing interest, which affects everyone,” the official said, adding that the UN climate change body has been working specifically to enhance representation from developing countries as requested by governments at last year’s mid-year climate talks.
Blow to climate justice?
Osver Polo Carrasco, coordinator of the ambition and NDC working group of the CAN Latin America network, expressed concern about the limitations all this may pose on civil society in doing its job of monitoring and providing oversight of developments at COP30.
This problem was already been experienced at last week’s pre-COP in Brasilia, he added, “where access was very limited for civil society and also for the written press”.
One African Group negotiator – who is not attending COP30 because of the “prohibitive costs” – said the exclusion of himself and other representatives of governments and civil society from the continent “is not just an economic failure – it’s a political one”.
“It undermines representation, weakens multilateralism amid uncertainties like a potential US absence, and threatens the legitimacy and momentum needed for an inclusive and ambitious COP30,” he said.
He warned that “without the voices of those on the frontlines, climate justice becomes a hollow promise.”
The COP30 presidency said the substantive participation of Global South organisations “is essential for the credibility of the conference”, noting that it had already consulted with a wide range of groups, representing Indigenous peoples, youth and women among others, to ensure they can influence and engage in the summit.
“COP30 is being planned as a milestone for placing climate justice at the center, treating the full participation of civil society organisations as a pillar of this commitment,” the presidency spokesperson told Climate Home.
The post Global South campaigners question inclusivity of COP30 as some stay home appeared first on Climate Home News.
Global South campaigners question inclusivity of COP30 as some stay home
Bolivia’s election of centre-right President-elect Rodrigo Paz Pereira could see the country open its vast lithium resources to foreign investors to bolster its faltering economy – a move that could benefit the US after years of hostility toward Washington, analysts say.
Paz, a senator and the son of a former president, won the country’s election earlier this month, ending two decades of left-wing rule, which constrained foreign investment in the South American nation’s mineral wealth.
The change in government may be welcomed by investors in the US, which is seeking to secure access to minerals that are critical for clean technology and military equipment, to counter China’s supply chain dominance, and has previously raised concerns over Chinese investments in the region’s lithium industry.
Lithium is a key material to manufacture rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage.
Bolivia makes up less than 1% of global lithium production despite possessing some of the world’s largest reserves, with an estimated 23 million tonnes, or 20% of the global total.
Paz has pledged to seek overseas partnerships to tap these reserves. But he will have to balance engaging the US with maintaining investment from China and Russia initiated by his predecessors.
“Exactly what he does on this issue will determine his relationship with China and Russia,” said Farit Rojas, a professor at the Higher University of San Andrés in La Paz.
At the same time, the political reset could provide Bolivia with a critical opportunity to set clearer and stricter environmental and social standards for developing its burgeoning lithium sector, analysts told Climate Home News.
Bolivia’s lithium dream
Paz’s election comes at a pivotal moment for the country. It is mired in an economic crisis spurred by runaway inflation caused by a foreign currency shortage, leaving people waiting in long lines for fuel and essentials like cooking oil.
Converting lithium reserves into a profitable export industry would bring much needed dollars into the country.
But doing so would require amending Bolivia’s constitution to allow private firms to extract the mineral. That privilege was restricted to Bolivia’s state-owned companies under the 20-year rule of the Movement for Socialism (MAS), the party formerly led by ex-President Evo Morales.
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Constitutional restrictions and past rejection of foreign investment mean Bolivia’s lithium resources remain largely untapped compared to neighbouring Argentina and Chile, whose deposits are of higher quality.
A significant share of Bolivia’s deposits also lie beneath the Salar de Uyuni salt flats, a major tourist attraction.
Paz, whose party does not have a legislative majority, has yet to say whether and how he will amend Bolivia’s constitution. But he has pledged not to “sell out” Salar de Uyuni.
US, China and Russia: a balancing act
His first months in office will be watched closely by the Trump administration. Following Paz’s election victory, the US Department of State pledged to work with him on “shared goals of regional and global security, economic prosperity, and growth that will benefit our nations”.
For the US, this could be an opportunity to break China and Russia’s grip on Bolivia’s lithium reserves, said Pablo Hamilton, a Chilean mining lawyer connecting foreign investors with energy opportunities in Bolivia.
In 2024, Bolivia’s state-owned Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos lithium company signed contracts worth a combined $2 billion with Chinese and Russian firms to extract lithium beneath the Salar de Uyuni salt flats. The year prior, it signed a $1.4 billion deal with Chinese battery manufacturing giant CATL to develop its lithium resources.
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But those contracts – which have yet to be approved by Bolivia’s legislature – have been sharply criticised by scientists, Indigenous peoples and local communities because of a lack of transparency over the consultation process, inconsistencies within the contracts and environmental risks. Paz has pledged to review the contracts.
Cancelling the contracts could cause investors to worry about policy volatility, Hamilton told Climate Home News. But the administration could justify doing so if it can prove allegations of corruption that have swirled around the deals. It could also provide an opportunity to establish stricter mining standards that provide certainty to potential investors.
Investors “don’t know what to expect”
“The rules are not clear enough. It’s very concerning that investors don’t know what to expect,” Hamilton said. “This is a great opportunity to [mandate] a free, prior and informed consultation process and environmental impact assessments – really professional ones, not just to tick the box.”
To attract foreign investment, Paz will likely seek to build public-private partnerships, which will require greater engagement from local actors than in the past, Hamilton said.
In the area surrounding Salar de Uyuni, Indigenous groups have lost trust in the government, citing the shadowy allocation of mining contracts and saying their communities have not benefited from mining.
They also worry that additional extraction would deplete the limited freshwater resources they rely on for farming, said Gonzalo Mondaca of environmental organisation Cedib, which works with communities living in the lithium-rich region.
Efforts to green lithium extraction face scrutiny over water use
The proposed Chinese and Russian extraction plans would use direct lithium extraction (DLE), a group of technologies that proponents say can help extract more lithium with fewer environmental impacts but which still uses large amounts of water.
But existing environmental assessments are not sufficient to understand the impact of the technique on the salt flat’s ecosystem, said Mondaca.
On the campaign trail, Paz also said he would seek to export the magnesium byproducts of lithium extraction to the US and China.
However, that plan requires a high level of technological development and Bolivia currently lacks the necessary infrastructure, said Mondaca.
Even if the new president manages to clear constitutional hurdles to liberalise the country’s lithium sector, “there is still a long way to go,” he added.
The post Bolivia’s shift to the right renews ambition to mine vast lithium reserves appeared first on Climate Home News.
Bolivia’s shift to the right renews ambition to mine vast lithium reserves
The Amazon isn’t just the world’s greatest rainforest. She has been home to her original people for tens of thousands of years, who have persisted through centuries of colonial incursions to protect their home. At each moment of each day, the Amazon breathes, dances, and sings with an endless variety of plants and animals, many of those we humans have yet to understand. The Amazon is life-giving, irreplaceable and yet profoundly vulnerable.
Here are 10 fascinating facts to inspire you to take action for the Amazon:
1- The Amazon is the largest rainforest in the world
Spanning over nine countries in South America, the Amazon is the largest tropical forest on the planet, covering 6.7 million square kilometres. To put it in perspective, she is twice the size of India—the largest country in South Asia. The biggest part, around 60%, is in Brazil. After the Amazon, the Congo Basin and Papua host the world’s largest remaining rainforests.
2- The Amazon is one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth
The Amazon is home to approximately 10% of all known species of fauna and flora worldwide. From the beautiful hyacinth macaws to fearless jaguars and the amazing pink dolphins, this vibrant ecosystem is teeming with life. In some areas, a single hectare can contain more than 300 tree species, approximately two-thirds of the native tree species in Europe (454), making the Amazon one of the most botanically rich regions on Earth.
Studies show that the Amazon Basin harbours at least 2,716 species of fish, 427 amphibians, 371 reptiles, 1,300 birds, and 425 mammals. However, the vast majority of its biodiversity lies in her invertebrates, particularly insects, with over 2.5 million species currently known
3- There are approximately 3 million Indigenous People living in the Amazon
The Amazon is home to a diverse group of Indigenous Peoples. Over 390 Indigenous Peoples live in the region, along with approximately 137 isolated groups, who have chosen to remain uncontacted.
In Brazil, about 51.2% of the country’s Indigenous population resides in the Amazon. But the largest tropical forest in the world is also home to traditional communities that have lived in harmony with the forest for generations, such as Rubber Tappers, Ribeirinhos—who inhabit the Amazon’s riverbanks—and Quilombolas, Afro-Brazilian communities descended from enslaved people..
4- The Amazon is home to over 40 million people
The Amazon is not just a vast rainforest rich in biodiversity and home to Indigenous People—it is also home to several cities. In Brazil, These include Manaus , an industrial hub with a population of 2.2 million, and Belém , which will host the United Nations Climate Conference (COP30) in November 2025.
These people’s lives are intrinsically connected to the forest. They depend on her for their food, fresh water, and to regulate the local climate. Smoke from the fires in the Amazon directly impacts the people living in the region, darkening the skies and causing respiratory problems to the population, especially children and elders.
5- The Amazon is vital for the global climate
The Amazon is estimated to store about 123 billion tons of carbon, both above and below ground, making her one of Earth’s most crucial “carbon reserves”, vital in the fight against the climate crisis. However, studies show that fire- and deforestation-affected areas of the Amazon are now releasing more CO₂ into the atmosphere than they absorb. This poses a major threat to the global climate. Protecting the Amazon means protecting the future of everyone.
6- Fires in the Amazon are not natural
Unlike bushfires in Australia and other parts of the world, fires in the Amazon are not natural. In the Amazon biome, fire is used in the deforestation process to clear the land for agriculture and pasture. The use of fire in the Amazon is often illegal, and so is deforestation. This practice has a major impact on the local biodiversity, the health of the populations living in the region, and to the global climate, as the fires release vast amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.
© Victor Moriyama / Amazônia em Chamas
7- Cattle ranching is the leading cause of deforestation in the Amazon
The expansion of agribusiness in the Amazon is putting more and more pressure on the forest. According to a study, 90% of the deforested areas in the Brazilian Amazon are turned into pasture to produce meat and dairy. This means the food we eat may be linked to deforestation in the Amazon. We must urge our governments to stop buying from forest destroyers and ensure supply chains are free from deforestation, and demand stronger protections for the Amazon.
8- Illegal gold mining is a major threat to Indigenous Peoples
Illegal gold mining in Indigenous Lands in Brazil surged by 265% in just five years, between 2018 and 2022. The activity poses a severe threat to the health and the lives of Indigenous People, destroying rivers, contaminating communities with mercury and bringing violence and death to their territories.
But illegal gold mining doesn’t impact just the forest and Indigenous People. A recent study showed that mercury-contaminated fish are being sold in markets in major Amazonian cities, putting the health of millions at risk.
9- The Amazon is close to a point of no return
About 17% of the Amazon has already been deforested, and scientists warn we are getting dangerously close to a ‘point of no return’.
According to a study, if we lose between 20% and 25% of the Amazon, the forest might lose its ability to generate its own moisture, leading to reduced rainfall, higher temperatures, and a self-reinforcing cycle of drying and degradation.
As a result, vast areas of the forest could turn into a drier, savanna-like ecosystem, unable to sustain her rich biodiversity. This could have catastrophic consequences for the global climate, local communities, and the planet’s ecological balance.
10- The most important Climate Conference in the world is happening in the Amazon this year
COP30, the United Nations Climate Conference, will take place in Belém, the second largest city in the Amazon region, in November 2025. During the conference, representatives from countries all over the world will meet to discuss measures to protect the climate. Across the globe, we are already witnessing and feeling the impacts of the climate crisis. This is our chance to demand our political leaders move beyond words to urgent action. They must stop granting permission and public funds to Earth-destroying industries. Instead, our leaders must respect, pursue, and support real solutions that already exist—solutions that put the forest and her people at the heart of the response. Indigenous guardians of the forest hold true authority, and they must be respected and heard. The moment is now.
We are the turning point! Join the movement and demand respect for the Amazon.
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