COP30 puts Belém on the map as Brazil showcases the Amazon to the world | World News

In December 2023, when Brazil was formally elected as the host for the COP30 summit – United Nation’s (UN) annual conference on climate change – a larger part of the world didn’t know about the city of Belém. The 12-day conference started on November 10, and is set to get over today (November 21). Unlike Brazil’s Rio De Janeiro which is home to the largest Carnival in the globe or Sao Paulo which is known for its towering landscapes and scenic beaches, the quaint city of Belém doesn’t have much to boast about – other than the fact that it is known as the gateway to the Amazon, yet Belém which is located in the northern part of Brazil, was chosen to host one of the largest conferences in the globe. Speaking to The Indian Express, Jader Filho, Miner of Cities, Government of Brazil, said that the reason why Belém was selected was to highlight the Amazonian culture, one of Brazil’s heritage and how both environment and progress can coex.
“In all the COPs, the delegates speak about environment conservation, they talk about forests. We wanted this COP to showcase that both nature and development can coex. This was our opportunity to show the world what Amazon, the lungs of this earth, looks like, while at the same time it was also an opportunity of us to show the world that not all Amazonian live in the forest, but 80% of the people actually live in cities like everyone else,” Filho said.
“Initially people from both outside and inside of Brazil said that we cannot do this, yet we worked together and made this happen together. Today, the entire world is watching up drafting and formulating ideas for a safe and secure tomorrow,” he added.
However, Filho says that preparing the city to make it feasible for hosting the climate conference was a mammoth task. The Brazilian government spent 60.5 billion Brazilian Real which is equivalent to 1.2 billion US dollars on preparing for the world’s largest climate conference. The entire process began immediately after Brazil was officially elected as the host, two years ago.
Being a port city, Belém is home to a sea port as well as an international airport. However, these facilities didn’t have the infrastructure where cruise ships could anchor and remain in the harbour throughout the duration of the conference. Thousands of delegates from around the globe are staying in two cruise ships that are being anchored at the Belém Port. These ships are also doubling up as five star hotels as well as offices for negotiators when the meetings are not taking place at the COP Venue.
“Even though we had a port, we didn’t have the infrastructure where cruise ships could anchor. We had to increase the height of the port to expand the area to make way of the ships. This entire process was done within a period of five months. Meanwhile, we also retrofitted our airport to ensure it can hold a larger load of aircraft and this included expanding the runways and augmenting the hangars and this process was achieved within 14-months,” Filho said. Story continues below this ad
At the beginning of 2025, accommodation cost and hotel charges in Belém saw an exorbitant rise, to the extent that the government of Brazil had to intervene. During the mid-year nation’s climate change conference, which was held in Bonn, Germany during June this year, several countries pointed out the heavy cost of accommodation during the period. Following which the state government had to intervene.
“Another important aspect is to involve the local citizens. We held meetings with the management of local hotels, restaurants and transport bodies to ensure everything is streamlined and the delegates, visitors who would be visiting the city during COP don’t face any inconvenience. We had to make people believe and understand how important this event is not only for Belém, but also for Brazil,” Filho said.
For the people of Belém, the COP30 has officially put Belém on the global map.
“Belém knows about the world. We know about the United States, the great wall of China, Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal, but does the world know anything about Belém ? Until a month ago not many people knew anything about this place. Most of the tours who would come here are from different parts of Brazil. There were hardly any international passengers visiting Belém. But now, we believe, we have made our mark in the global map and people will take note of Belém, as they take note of other big cities,” said Angelina Marcus, a restaurant owner at Belém’s Vero-Peso-Market. Story continues below this ad
Gabrielle, another shop owner at this market says, “Today everywhere in the city, we see people talking about our food, our people and our forest. This is a big thing for us because the culture of Amazon is truly unexplored the main world.”
The official language in Belém is Portuguese and most of them are not at all akin to English or other languages like Mandarin or Spanish that are common around the globe.
“People in Belém don’t have the exposure to the globalised world yet and since a large population living here is indigenous in nature, the populace of several global languages hasn’t reached here. But we are hopeful that this will gradually change from now on,” said Peter Marcellus – a Belém resident, who is a professor and observer in COP30.