Government evaluates dehydrating COP30 in Belém and transferring meetings to RJ or SP – 03/19/2024 – Environment

The Lula (PT) government is considering removing part of COP30, the UN global climate summit, from Belém and transferring a series of conference meetings and events to another city in Brazil.

The assessment of a wing of Lula’s assistants is that the hotel capacity and infrastructure needed in the capital of Pará will hardly be ready by November of next year to host an event of the magnitude of the COP.

Thousands of delegates and other participants from the 195 signatory countries are expected.

Given this, the possibility being discussed by Lula’s assistants is to concentrate only part of COP30 in Belém, mainly the agendas of heads of state and main authorities. The remaining events would be taken to another city.

According to people with knowledge of the matter, they told SheetRio de Janeiro and São Paulo are being discussed as parallel venues, metropolises with more consolidated infrastructure and a history of hosting major events.

When contacted, Palácio do Planalto denied that there were plans to dehydrate the COP in Belém.

Itamaraty stated that it “maintains the plan that the city of Belém will host COP30” and that it continues to work “together with the government of Pará to ensure the success of the event.”

The government of Pará did not comment.

Rio will host the G20 summit, a group of the world’s largest economies, at the end of this year. The city also hosted the 1992 Earth Summit and Rio+20 (United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development) in 2012.

According to the design discussed, technical meetings and forums parallel to COP30, involving business and third sector representatives, would take place in Rio or São Paulo. In other words, these cities would house the bulk of the delegates and other participants in the climate event.

The COP in Belém should last around ten days in November. The initial days of the event are those that generate the greatest concern, as they involve the participation of dozens of heads of state and government. These authorities travel with large delegations and need a special security scheme both at the conference venue and when traveling around the city.

As they told the Sheet people with knowledge of the negotiations, the possibility of “slicing” the COP has not yet been brought to Lula.

Belém’s logistical and infrastructure difficulties have been raised since Lula presented the city’s candidacy to host the UN global climate meeting, still in the first year of government, in 2023.

One of the main obstacles is hotel capacity.

According to people familiar with the conversations, Belém currently has around 14,000 hotel beds. The influx of foreign representatives into the city would create a demand for approximately 80 thousand beds, according to these same interlocutors. If Brazil does not establish a limit on the size of delegations, the total need could exceed 100 thousand beds.

Possibilities were studied to expand the city’s capacity to receive visitors, such as the use of boats or even a system through which city residents would put their houses and apartments up for rent on an Airbnb scheme.

The diagnosis on the part of the federal government, however, is that the expansion will hardly meet the demand necessary for the dimensions of the COP.

The minister of Secom (Secretariat of Social Communication of the Presidency), Paulo Pimenta, told Sheet that the federal government is not considering changing plans and continues to work on preparations for Belém to host the entire event.

“I have now met with President Lula and the Minister of the Civil House, Rui Costa, and there is no change in the planning. It was a decision by the President of the Republic,” he stated.

In a note sent to Sheetthe Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the planning for Belém as the headquarters is maintained “in accordance with President Lula’s determination that the conference be held in the Amazon region.”

“The ministry continues to work together with the government of Pará to ensure the success of the event. For minister Mauro Vieira, the unprecedented opportunity to take the COP to the Brazilian Amazon has had, in preparation, the full support of the governor of Pará, Helder Barbalho”.

The management of governor Helder Barbalho (MDB) has been stating behind the scenes that there are only insinuations that part of the COP may leave the capital Belém. Interlocutors in the state claim that there has been no sign or official communication from the Lula government that there may be changes in the plans for the conference.

These governor’s assistants insist that Pará continues with its preparations to host the conference events in their entirety.

The government of Pará continues to invest in the alternative of cruise ships that would be anchored in the port region, a prime area of ​​the capital of Pará. On Monday (18), the vice-governor, Hana Ghassan, participated in a sector event, receiving the largest transatlantic vessel of the season.

He also sees the recovery of degraded federal government properties as a solution, such as an INSS (National Social Security Institute) building that recently caught fire.

Even in this case there are obstacles. Interlocutors from the Helder administration say that the state is still awaiting a definitive solution from Brasília for the recovery of this property, more specifically from the Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Service.

Helder’s allies also cite a political component in questions about the ability to host the full event. They mention that the governor has been gaining prominence, particularly with COP30, to the point of being named as Lula’s possible vice-president in the 2026 elections.

Next week, the city of Belém will be in the spotlight, due to the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron. The European leader will be welcomed by Lula in the capital of Pará. The two presidents will later have commitments together in Itaguaí (RJ) and Brasília (DF).