Holding COP30 in Belém represents a defining moment for climate equity, signaling a shift toward inclusive, justice-centered climate diplomacy. The decision to host the UN climate conference in an under-resourced Amazon city underlines the message that climate action must be grounded in fairness, resilience, and shared opportunity.
The selection of Belém, Brazil—an impoverished region on the edge of the Amazon rainforest—was deliberate. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva promoted the city as host during COP27, with the intention of drawing global attention to the intertwined crises of deforestation, poverty, and development. Belém was officially confirmed during COP28 in Dubai in December 2023.
COP30 in Belém offers tangible symbolism: hosting climate talks in a city facing infrastructure deficits, severe pollution, and socioeconomic challenges is meant to expose delegates firsthand to the lived realities of climate-vulnerable communities. It underlines that climate justice must include support for forests, frontline populations, and local development.
Organizers expect more than 30,000 attendees across nearly 200 countries, fueling a push toward climate finance commitments. Central to that effort is the Baku to Belém Roadmap, which aims to mobilize $1.3 trillion annually by 2035 to support climate solutions in developing nations. Financing and climate justice are key pillars in Brazil’s presidency plan.
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COP30 leadership, including CEO Ana Toni, emphasizes that this summit should mark the transition from negotiation to implementation. With the Paris Agreement rule-book finalized at COP29 and a global stocktake concluded at COP28, COP30’s real mission is delivering real-world outcomes—particularly in climate adaptation and nature-based solutions—anchored in equity and inclusion.
Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, COP30 President-designate, has called for COP30 to depart dramatically from the status quo. He urged civil society, Indigenous groups, and frontline communities to have a central role in shaping climate action—emphasizing both implementation and a just transition that supports communities historically left out of global discussions.
Yet, the choice of Belém also brings difficult contradictions. The city struggles with extreme heat, frequent flooding, untreated sewage, high crime, and cautious deforestation associated with infrastructure upgrades like the controversial Avenida Liberdade highway project. Activists and local residents caution that true leadership cannot come at the expense of harming the very ecosystem COP30 is meant to protect.
Brazil has attempted to address logistical concerns—including lodging shortages and rising housing costs—by securing over 30,000 rooms for delegates, setting aside discounted options for vulnerable nations, and even using cruise ships to house thousands of attendees. The goal is to ensure access and inclusion throughout the event.
In many ways, COP30 in Belém is positioned to be the first true “COP of Solutions”—a summit that shifts the narrative from sacrifice to shared benefit. Its location in the Amazon foregrounds nature-based strategies, adaptation, biodiversity, and sustainable development as integral to climate action. It also challenges global systems to reconsider whose voices are central in crafting solutions.
Achieving that ambition rests on momentum from negotiators, national leaders, finance ministers, civil society, and private sectors, galvanized around commitments like the $1.3 trillion roadmap and the proposed Tropical Forest Forever Facility. COP30 thus offers the potential to redefine climate diplomacy—making equity, inclusion, and implementation central in the global response to climate change.
In hosting COP30 in Belém, Brazil is inviting the world to witness a city at the nexus of climate vulnerability and opportunity—and positioning COP30 as a turning point toward justice-centered, result-driven global climate policy.
