Love motels and converted ferries: Brazil gets creative to host COP30

Environmental activists from around the globe have eagerly awaited Brazil's turn hosting the UN climate summit, known as COP30, after three years where the conference of world leaders tackling global warming was held in countries without full freedom for public demonstrations.

But the so-called “People's COP” may not be as welcoming as they hoped. Sky-high accommodation costs are threatening Brazil's stated goal of inclusion and the government is racing to multiply the 18,000 beds now available in the Amazonian host city of Belem, turning to motels aimed at amorous couples, ferries that normally ply the rivers and school classrooms to host visitors.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said his goal in bringing COP30 to the Amazon was to focus the world's attention on a forest that offers unique solutions to climate change by locking away planet-warming carbon, and suffers some of its gravest consequences in the form of wildfires and drought.

While many climate change campaigners have celebrated that focus, some have expressed fears that hosting such a major event may strain the fragile region and compromise the success of the conference. Belem, a port city of 1.3-million people on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, is speckled with construction sites. The Brazilian government is pouring about $1bn (R18.14bn) into new infrastructure.

Much work remains to accommodate an expected 60,000-plus visitors. Two global advocacy groups who declined to be named told Reuters scouts they hired found accommodation prices for the November conference were several times higher than what they paid last year in Baku, Azerbaijan. Even the cheapest rooms are going for $400 (R7,257) and are averaging about $1,500 (R27,222) a night. Lula shrugged off the hotel crunch in a recent visit to Belem, suggesting those who cannot find accommodation should sleep “looking at the sky — it will be wonderful”.

At the heart of the problem is a question that has become more acute as the annual COP has grown from a gathering of world leaders and diplomats to a sprawling conference mixing activists, businesses and government officials: Who is the UN climate summit really for?

“It feels like a mundane thing, but it's politically important,” said Tasneem Essop, executive director of the Climate Action Network. “The ability to address the accommodation problems can make or break a COP.”

Civil society groups say their access is key to keeping pressure on negotiators, citing the role of public advocacy in breakthroughs such as the creation of the Loss and Damage Fund in 2022 to channel resources from wealthy nations to address destruction caused by climate change in poorer countries.

“Everybody's been waiting for the Brazil COP,” Essop said. “For civil society, it is that point where again we're going to be at the COP with space for our actions.”

Brazil has already shifted the dates for heads of state to attend the summit to the week before the main event, trying to ease pressure on Belem's thin hotel supply. Two hotels are being built and two cruise ships for attendees will be docked in a nearby harbour.

Entrepreneurs are hard at work figuring out other creative ways to accommodate the visitors.

Businesses are looking to refurbish ferries with high-end suites. Developers plan to use idle land to put up refurbished shipping containers. Schools and churches have been earmarked to serve as hostels.

Love motels that usually rent rooms by the hour are being advertised as options for full national delegations. Yorann Costa, the owner of Motel Secreto, said he can tone down the “more sensual mood” of his establishment by removing erotic chairs.

“But the poles, for example, I can't take out,” he said, adding the ceiling mirrors would also have to stay.

Setting the right price was also tough, he said, because of the fierce speculation about what people were willing to pay. Valter Correia, Brazil's special secretary for COP30, said his office is planning to launch an official booking website within weeks to organise the market. His office is also looking for ways to discourage price gouging.

Correia said the government expects about 45,000 people to attend COP and the government has planned enough new accommodation to meet that demand. However, the People's Summit, a side-event run by activist groups, says it expects an additional 15,000. Organisers say they are planning to help with accommodation, for example by building campsites.

City and state officials are also encouraging residents to travel and rent out their homes. That has unleashed a gold rush of sorts in Belem. Ads charging hundreds of thousands of dollars to rent apartments and houses for the month of COP have become common.

Interviews with landlords, tenants and a building manager revealed dozens of cases of people who were refused renewal of their rental lease so landlords could prepare apartments for COP visitors paying ten times or more the usual rate. Rafaela Rodrigues, a businesswoman who says she was refused renewal of her rental, said she later found the apartment advertised for several times what she used to pay.

“It was chaos,” she said. “I had 10 days to look for a new place, rent it, move and give back my other apartment.”

Reuters