Cruise ships that are supposed to alleviate the housing shortage at Brazil's climate summit are very expensive

The most expensive cabin, the Yacht Club Suite Royal, costs €8,431.00 per night. It sleeps four people. The company offers a 17-night stay, which covers the two-week climate summit, without asking. The price for that period: over €143,000; although shorter booking periods are also possible.

It's yet another example of the summit's organizational problems. Some 50,000 participants are expected, but there are far too few (affordable) hotel rooms. Brazil has promised that cruise ships would offer reduced prices, but the requested price list doesn't reflect this.

Due to the high costs, significantly fewer Dutch civil servants will travel to Brazil. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Climate and Green Growth expects that only about half of the approximately 100 civil servants who attended the previous summit will travel to Belém.

The civil servants work for various ministries. They will not be staying overnight on the cruise ships, but will rent a private apartment through the Dutch embassy in Brazil.

At the previous climate summit we made the video below:

The Brazilian government has ensured that affordable private apartments are offered on a special platform for the climate summit.

Despite fierce criticism of the choice of Belém, the government of Brazilian President Luiz Lula da Silva is sticking with it. The city of 1.3 million is located on the coast, in the Amazon rainforest.

That vast forest area plays a crucial role in the Earth's climate. The 30th climate summit "will therefore be the first to take place undeniably at the epicenter of the climate crisis," says summit president André Corrêa do Lago.

The Amazon rainforest has been threatened for years by illegal logging, forest fires, and drought. "This is the first (climate summit, ed.) to take place in the Amazon, one of the world's most vital ecosystems, which scientists say is now at risk of reaching an irreversible tipping point," said the chair.

Immediately after the previous climate summit in Azerbaijan, affordable hotel rooms in Belém were no longer available. In Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, some rooms that normally cost 30 to 40 euros per night were almost a thousand euros during the summit.

This is leading to growing criticism of the climate summits. There are fears that poorer countries will be increasingly deterred from participating, says Hilde Stroot of Oxfam Novib.

"If countries haven't booked anything yet, time will be very short, especially for developing countries," she says. "And that could lead to a system of exclusion. Fewer people are already leaving from the Netherlands, and we're a wealthy country. Imagine what that must be like for a developing country."

Information about the two cruise ships, the Costa Diadema and MSC Seaview, also provides insight into onboard activities. At over 300 meters long, the Costa Diadema accommodates nearly 5,000 passengers in 1,862 cabins.

"The ship features 11 restaurants, 12 bars, 3 swimming pools, and 8 whirlpools," the website states. The MSC Seaview is almost 325 meters long and can accommodate approximately 5,300 passengers. "Attractions on board include the Panorama Pool, the promenade, and the Forest Aquaventure Park."

It's noteworthy that an American company is behind the ships. And not all countries are equally welcome.

Under the heading "Which countries have restrictions on accommodation reservations?", countries subject to "US territorial economic sanctions" are listed.

While twenty countries were mentioned here a few weeks ago, the website now lists seven countries affected by these sanctions: Iran, Cuba, Syria, several regions in Ukraine, North Korea, Russia, and Belarus.

"Who actually decides who can be present here?" Stroot wonders. "Is it the Americans, based on their sanctions system, or is it the UN that decides?" What's particularly galling is that the US has withdrawn from the Paris Climate Agreement.