Under 60 leaders to attend Brazil’s Amazon climate summit

Brazil announced on Friday that fewer than 60 world leaders have confirmed their attendance at an Amazonian summit next week, held ahead of the annual UN climate conference, marking a smaller turnout than in previous years.

The COP30 climate conference is scheduled to take place in the city of Belém from 10 to 21 November. It will be preceded by a summit of heads of state and government on 6–7 November, which is being held separately this year to ease accommodation pressures.

Some 50,000 people are expected to descend on Belém, a city with 1.4 million residents, more than half of whom live in shantytowns.

With a shortage of traditional hotel rooms, conference organisers have been scrambling to secure alternative accommodation in private homes, universities, schools, and even two cruise ships docked in the harbour approximately 20 kilometres from the conference centre.

As a result, prices have soared, prompting environmental groups to warn that COP30 could be “the most exclusionary in history.”

Despite the concerns, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has insisted the conference be held in the Amazon—a powerful symbol of the importance of the world’s carbon-absorbing forests. In February, he suggested delegates could “sleep under the stars” if necessary.

By Friday, 57 heads of state and government had confirmed their attendance at the summit, Brazil’s chief negotiator, Mauricio Lyrio, told reporters.

For comparison, 75 leaders attended COP29 in Azerbaijan last year, while the Dubai conference in 2023 hosted roughly double that number.

Confirmed attendees include the leaders of Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Norway, Colombia, Chile, Cape Verde and Liberia, according to government statements reported to AFP.

China has indicated that Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang will represent President Xi Jinping.

The United States and Argentina, both led by climate-sceptic administrations, have yet to announce who, if anyone, they will send.

In total, 170 delegations are accredited for the main COP30 conference, which is set against a backdrop of global political turmoil that many fear could overshadow the pressing climate emergency.