How COP30 in Belém ended up limiting attendance from the Global South

Before COP30 officially opened on November 10th, the world’s most important climate summit was already facing a crisis, not in the negotiating rooms, but in the airports, airline counters and hotel lobbies that are preventing hundreds of Global South delegates from reaching Brazil.

Technical teams, including interpreters, youth activists, women’s rights advocates, Indigenous representatives, media and civil society coalitions, are among those yet to get to Belém due to soaring flight costs, overbooked flights, a shortage of affordable accommodation and widespread logistical bottlenecks.

The 2025 summit is now expected to see smaller delegations from Africa and other regions in recent history, raising questions about procedural justice in terms of representation and equity.

At the opening plenary, COP30 President André Corrêa do Lago had to postpone the hearing of joint statements from Parties since some members of the interpretation teams were yet to arrive in Belém.

Due to unexpected travel delays experienced by some of the interpretation team, we will not have enough interpretation time to reconvene today in the joint plenary to hear statements from groups. The joint plenary for statements will be convened tomorrow.

COP30 delegates experience travel disruptions

Most international flights into Brazil land in São Paulo, but Belém, the host city, lies more than 2,400 kilometres away and is mainly accessible by domestic flights. Those flights have been fully booked for weeks, with costs rising sharply as demand grew.

Some delegates report that return tickets cost more than $3,000 (approx. Sh390,000), double the normal rate. Others who secured international flights were unable to book the final connection to Belém, leaving many stranded in different airports and even São Paulo itself.

Hotel prices in Belém have also spiralled, with rooms that normally cost US$60 (approx. Sh,7,800) a night now listed for more than US$400 (approx. Sh52,000).

Visa restrictions

Youth groups and women’s networks, already stretched by limited funding, have had to cancel attendance entirely. Several countries that traditionally send large delegations have been forced to cut their teams to fewer than ten representatives.

For some delegates, the hurdles went beyond flight and accommodation. Visa complications have also taken a toll, leaving others unable to travel despite months of preparation.

A delegate from Cameroon shared his frustration, noting that his e-visa was cancelled last minute although it had previously been approved. The delegate further states he was not given a reason for the cancellation.

“My experience with COP30 in Brazil has been disappointing. My e-visa was issued on September 19, 2025, valid until December 31, 2025, but to my great surprise, on November 4, 2025, I received an email stating that my e-visa was no longer valid. I am very disappointed with the organisation of this year's COP30,” said Jean Felix.

Brazil’s decision to host COP30 in Belém, a major gateway to the Amazon basin, was meant to be a symbolic gesture, placing the climate summit in the heart of the world’s largest tropical forest.

Some governments quietly proposed moving the summit to a larger, more accessible city such as Brasília or São Paulo. But Brazil insisted that Belém represented a necessary political statement about protecting the Amazon.

"It would have been easier to organise COP in a city that is finished. But we wanted to have it here in Belém to show that political commitment drives achievement for men and women. This is a lesson of civility, human greatness," Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said during the opening plenary.

Critics argue, however, that symbolism has not been matched with adequate support for those travelling from the Global South.

COP30 priority discussions

This year’s talks are expected to focus heavily on adaptation, on the Just Transition Work Programme, on delivery of the new climate finance goal agreed at COP29 in Baku, on operationalising the Loss and Damage Fund and on clarifying the legal obligations under Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement, which requires developed countries to provide public finance to developing countries. Without members of technical teams who support parties, some fear that priorities could be sidelined or fast-tracked without their presence.

There are already reports that some heads of state may have attended the World Leaders’ Summit last week without some members of their technical teams or negotiating teams, after missing internal Brazilian flights due to strict domestic check-in rules.

Members of the press have also not been spared from the logistics nightmare. Janefrances Chibundu, who writes for The Cable in Nigeria, says she missed her connecting flight in São Paulo and had to wait for over four hours.

"I was asked to go get a letter from the first airline that brought me to São Paulo, without explaining what it was for. By the time I got the letter, they had closed the boarding gate. I later found out it was a lateness declaration letter they wanted me to get."

This is not the first time that participation from the Global South has been hindered in global climate diplomacy. At COP26 in Glasgow, hundreds were blocked due to vaccine and visa complications.

At COP27 in Egypt, delegates struggled with sudden hotel price hikes. At COP28 in Dubai, civil society faced protest restrictions.

During multiple UN climate meetings, visas for delegates from the Global South have been delayed or denied entirely. The pattern is now too frequent, many argue, to be dismissed as a coincidence.

“Procedural barriers - like denied visas and limited access to badges - can themselves lead to maladaptive outcomes. These barriers usually restrict African diplomatic and civil society representation and therefore their ability to influence COP and multilateral climate agendas meaningfully,” says Amy Giliam Thorp from Power Shift Africa.

With some delegates yet to arrive or priced out, the summit that promised to be the “Implementation COP” risks happening with the very people who are most affected by climate change missing from the room. This COP cannot afford to exclude those already living through the climate crisis and claim to speak for the world at all.