In an unprecedented move, two massive cruise ships are now anchored in the specially expanded port of Belem, a city in northern Brazil on the edge of the Amazon rainforest. These floating giants will serve as alternative accommodation for more than 10,000 participants attending the 30th UN Climate Change Conference, COP30.
A City Stretched Thin for a Global Summit
The host city of Belem is expecting between 40,000 and 50,000 people, including heads of state from nearly 200 countries. With a severe shortage of available hotel rooms and skyrocketing prices, the city has had to get remarkably creative. Accommodation solutions now range from multi-story steamboats to even converted strip clubs, all in a bid to house the international delegates.
The choice of Belem is deeply symbolic. It sits at the gateway to the Amazon rainforest, a region vital for the global climate but one that is suffering immensely from forest fires, severe droughts, and shifting rainy seasons. Local communities here are on the frontline of a relentless deforestation crisis, and the region remains one of the poorest in Brazil. This stark reality underscores the urgency of the talks, as low-income communities worldwide bear the brunt of extreme weather events fueled by the burning of fossil fuels.
The "Conference of Implementation" and Its Stumbling Blocks
Ahead of the negotiations, Brazil's President Lula has framed COP30 as a "conference of truth," demanding that the world faces the reality of the climate crisis. The host nation is also calling it a "conference of implementation," a label that highlights a critical failure in recent years. Currently, no single country is doing enough to limit global warming to the Paris Agreement's target of 1.5 degrees Celsius.
A key theme will be climate change adaptation. As impacts intensify, the need to protect economies and communities is more pressing than ever. Poorer and developing nations are demanding significantly more financial support from wealthy countries that have historically contributed the most to planet-warming emissions. Furthermore, a major point of contention is the lack of new climate targets. By November, fewer than 70 countries had submitted their updated plans, a fact that COP President Andre Correa do Lago called "annoying" and a breach of commitment.
Brazil's Leadership and Global Headwinds
For President Lula, COP30 is a top priority, a chance for Brazil to showcase its commitment to sustainable development and assume a leadership role on the world stage. However, the negotiations face a challenging global context marked by trade conflicts, the war in Ukraine, and the situation in Gaza, all of which have impacted multilateral climate policy.
Observers are watching with concern. Niklas Höhne of Climate Action Tracker emphasized the importance of a host that "inspires confidence in all countries." As a key initiative, Brazil will launch the Tropical Forest Forever Facility, a new fund aimed at protecting tropical forests. The goal is to raise a massive $125 billion, with at least 20% of payments directed to Indigenous communities. However, it remains uncertain how much of this can be secured during the Belem talks.
Meanwhile, the ambition of major economies is wavering. Germany is projected to miss its 2045 climate neutrality target and is slowing its green transition, a move experts warn could weaken the EU's global leadership. As Jan Kowalzig of Oxfam notes, while China is increasingly taking a pioneering role, it has historically prioritized national interests over pushing for collective ambition. What the world needs from Belem, as Mohamed Adow of Power Shift Africa puts it, is "concrete ambitions, concrete technology transfer, not the usual platitudes."
