Nations Rethink Plans for Brazil Climate Summit as Costs Soar

As workers in Belém, Brazil, rush to finish a new convention center that will host the United Nations’ COP30 climate summit in November, envoys from the countries most vulnerable to global warming are worried about their ability to take part in talks vital to their own future.

Accommodations in Belém are scarce and fetching high prices. Although organizers are redoubling efforts to secure more rooms, representatives of developing and at-risk countries say they’re considering scaling back their presence at this year’s event, which would reduce their visibility and negotiating power.

Evans Njewa, a Malawian official who chairs the Least Developed ...