"The 39 members of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) have continually expressed their concerns about the prohibitive costs associated with travelling to and staying in Belem," Ilana Seid, chair of the group and representative of Palau at the United Nations, told AFP by email.
"We do not have the luxury of large budgets at our disposal to ensure our participation," she said on behalf of the countries that dot oceans worldwide and are especially vulnerable to sea level rise and superstorms amplified by global warming.
"If our delegations are reduced or unable to participate effectively, it would be a failure in the pursuit of climate justice for those whose lives and livelihoods are on the front line of a crisis they did not cause," Seid said.
The UN climate conference will be held in November in Belem, an Amazonian city of 1.3 million inhabitants with limited hotel accommodations.
Less than 100 days before the event, the prices have caused such widespread consternation that some countries have asked for the conference to be moved to another city.
Austria's head of state this week cancelled his planned trip, citing "exceptionally high costs".
Recent months have seen hotels advertising rooms at 1,200 euros ($1,400) a night.
Some offerings on the Airbnb booking platform were even higher.
Airbnb said it was "committed to increasing efforts to raise awareness in the local hosting community and encourage responsible practices".
Since November 2023 the number of listings for the Belem region had surged to 6,100 from 1,000, "which represents around 19,000 beds", it told AFP, in a statement.
The COP30 presidency, which does not intend to move the event, has offered reduced-price accommodation for developing and island countries, including cabins on cruise ships.
But the price of these rooms is "still higher" than the package agreed for UN-backed travellers, Seid said.
"The allocation of 15 rooms per delegation is also alarming, meaning that many of our countries would be forced to reduce the size of their delegations," she said.
The COP30 president, Andre Correa do Lago, acknowledged this month that there were "extreme concerns" and that "reducing delegations is obviously not what Brazil wants because we need a very intense and productive COP".
"We are trying to find solutions to this price issue," he told journalists.
Austrian president skips COP30 over high costs amid budget crunch
Vienna (AFP) Aug 7, 2025 -
Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen will not attend November's COP30 climate conference in Brazil, mainly due to the "particularly high costs" when finances remain tight, his office said Thursday.
The Alpine country has begun implementing austerity measures in a bid to reign in Austria's ballooning budget deficit, which breaches European Union limits.
"The particularly high costs due to logistical reasons for the Federal President's participation in this year's COP, in addition to the Austrian negotiating delegation, are not within the tight budgetary framework," said a statement sent to AFP.
Austria's "budget consolidation... requires all public authorities to make cuts and exercise... discipline," Van der Bellen said in the statement.
The decision to skip the summit had not been taken lightly, he added.
Wishing Brazil "all the best for a successful COP", Van der Bellen said Austria's negotiating delegation would still take part.
Several COP30 countries and campaign groups have already expressed concern about the shortage of accomodation and exorbitant prices hotels and property owners are charging in Brazil's Amazonian city of Belem.
Brazil recently ruled out changing the venue after complaints about sky-high room prices in the far-flung destination, vowing to tackle the problems.
Belem has a population of 1.3 million and some hotels in recent months have been offering rooms at $1,400 per night.
Some 50,000 people are expected to attend the COP30 summit in Belem.
A new meeting of COP organisers is scheduled for next week to discuss issues including accommodation.
COP30 is due to be held on November 10-21, preceded by a heads of state summit on November 6 and 7.
Austria's deficit stood at 4.7 percent of GDP in 2024, and even though that was expected to fall to 4.4 percent this year, that remains well outside the EU limit of three percent.
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