As the Brazilian city prepares to host 50,000 delegates, local people are being pushed from their homes
This year’s summit, which began with an idealistic dream that the world would come to see the climate crisis for themselves in the rainforest, is increasingly enmeshed in anger and recriminations over sky-high accommodation costs and accusations that poorer countries are being forced out of the meetings.
“Cop30 was just the cherry on top,” said Priscilla Santos, the co-founder of the Rede Amazônidas pelo Clima thinktank. She credits the big real estate companies that operate in the city with triggering the lodging crisis.
"They immediately moved to secure exclusive deals with high-end property owners and promised to rent them out to foreigners at outrageous prices,” she said.
Local government picked up the idea and Cop30 was presented as a money-making opportunity on social media and beyond. Promotional material found by the Guardian encouraged local people to “take advantage of this great opportunity to earn even more”.
Lured by the prospect of once-in-a-lifetime profits, landlords soon started favouring short-term rentals for Cop30 at the expense of the city’s residents.
It was clear from the beginning that Belém would not have enough hotel rooms for the 50,000-odd people expected to attend the summit, so resorting to private homes was always a condition for the event to happen. But the way it has played out has in some cases been unfortunate.
Belém residents feel that much of the global media has painted their city as poor, lacking in infrastructure and incapable of hosting Cop. To them the coverage seems colonial and stereotypical. Despite all the challenges, they are adamant that they want to host the summit, which Santos says is more than a symbolic choice.
“We need people to come here and see the Amazon for what it really is, beyond exotified or romanticised notions,” she said.
The event has already created a ripple effect. “Everyday people have started to perceive themselves as being affected by the climate crisis. This discussion, once niche, has now become commonplace,” Santos said.
“The lady who cleans my house, who months ago confused Cop with the football World Cup [Copa, in Brazilian Portuguese], not only recognises the international importance of the event, but she now understands what climate change is and how it affects her life,” said lawyer Ieda Andrade.
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