Less arguing, more action: will Brazil's unorthodox approach to Cop30 work?

"Shipping containers, cruise ships, river boats, schools and even army barracks have been pressed into service as accommodation for the 50,000 plus people descending on the Amazon: this year's Cop30 climate summit is going to be, in many ways, an unconventional one. Located in Belem, a small city at the mouth of the Amazon river, the Brazilian hosts have been criticised for the exorbitant cost of scarce hotel rooms and hastily vacated apartments."

"Brazil's changes to the usual format will extend to the end of the fortnight: the host is resisting calls to end the Cop by gavelling through the usual cover decision, a document agreed by all parties that brings together numbered resolutions on many of the disparate strands of the climate crisis. Foregoing the catch-all cover decision a baggy, sometimes overlong document, but often the main outcome of a Cop is a high-risk strategy, meaning some key issues may be omitted,"

Cop30 is taking place in Belem, a small city at the mouth of the Amazon river, and has required unconventional accommodation such as shipping containers, cruise ships, river boats, schools and army barracks for over 50,000 attendees. Hosts have been criticised for scarce, expensive hotel rooms and hastily vacated apartments, prompting many delegations to slim down and business leaders to hold parallel events in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Heads of state and government arrived early for roundtables aimed at galvanising ministerial action. The host plans to resist producing the usual comprehensive cover decision, a choice that risks omitting key issues.

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