Construction is on schedule, COP30 organizers say
With 200 days to go until the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), scheduled to take place in Brazil in November, the organizing committees have reported on the progress of the construction work done so far in Belém, Pará state. The Parque da Cidade, where the global negotiations will take place, is 78 percent complete.
Valter Correia, extraordinary secretary for COP30, and Hana Ghassan, chair of the state committee, said the city will be ready in time to welcome the 50 thousand members of the international delegations.
“The works have strictly kept to schedule so that the COP can be a great event, inclusive and accessible to all,” she said.
A total of BRL 4.5 billion in federal, state, and municipal funds are being invested on 30 construction fronts to improve sanitation, mobility, and connectivity. The investments have generated 5 thousand jobs and will benefit 900 thousand people, Ghassan said.
The Parque da Cidade is the place where the COP will be given the green zone, for social participation; and the blue zone, where negotiations will take place. The construction of the first is underway and is the responsibility of the organizing country, Brazil. The blue zone will be given over to the United Nations, which will set up the structure for COP30.
According to the state organizers, BRL 700 million has been invested in the infrastructure stage of the green zone, which covers 230 thousand square meters, and a further BRL 700 million will be earmarked for a new stage of work on the remaining space, which will cover 270 thousand square meters and can only be completed after the conference.
Over 2 thousand saplings have been planted on the site, where Belém’s aeroclub used to be, and the vegetation is likely to add up to 2.5 thousand trees. The total area is also integrated with the Hangar Convention Center, which already existed before.
In addition to the construction of the Parque da Cidade, renovations are underway on a school where beds will be made available for accommodation; a port for ocean liners, which will also serve as accommodation; road infrastructure; and macro-drainage services, which will reach 13 canals in four river basins.
Accommodation
A total of 50 thousand beds will be made available for the conference. The private sector is building three new hotels with over 500 beds, and a platform for renting properties by the season will be made available in May. According to the secretary, dialog has been open with the state’s lodging associations to ensure there are no abusive pricing practices during the COP30 period.
According to Secretary Correia, the office of the president’s chief of staff has also inked a deal with Brazil’s international tourism agency Embratur worth BRL 263 million to model, plan, and manage operations with the companies that will make two ocean liners available for accommodation. Of this amount, the federal government is set to pay BRL 30 million. The rest will be covered by the sale of cabins.
“Embratur is now in the process of contracting the operator who will bring the ships and sell the cabins. So we’ll have a second platform, also official, where you can make reservations and actually buy each of these cabins and beds that will be available.”
*The reporter traveled at the invitation of Pará’s state government.
