Fire breaks out in pavilion at COP30 venue in Brazil

Fire breaks out in pavilion at COP30 venue in Brazil

A large fire broke out in the main area of COP 30 venue in this harbour city Thursday (November 20, 2025) afternoon local time. No injuries were reported and the cause of the blaze remained unknown as of Friday. This is the first time in its 30-year history that an accident has impeded proceedings of the annual climate summit, or the Conference of Parties (COP).

There were an estimated 56,000 registered delegates at the conference, though the actual number of attendees at the event on Thursday is unclear.

“Earlier today, a fire broke out in the Blue Zone of the COP30 venue in Belém. The fire department and UN security officers responded swiftly, and the fire was controlled in approximately six minutes. People were evacuated safely,” the COP30 Presidency said in a statement. “Thirteen individuals were treated on site for smoke inhalation. Their condition is being monitored, and appropriate medical support has been provided.”

Video footage showed emergency personnel rapidly dousing the flames. However, there were no fire alarms that were heard alerting people to evacuate the premises.

Even after the fire broke out, several journalists, attendees, staff were seen in the premises — some trying to ferret their belongings, others curious about the damage — until United Nations security officials had to entreat them to leave the premises.

The COP hosts officials from around 190 countries including senior bureaucrats and ministers, many of whom were in the middle of bilateral meetings trying to whittle down a range of divergent opinions on whether countries must agree on a roadmap to end fossil fuel use, whether ‘unilateral' trade measures ought to be mentioned in the final agreement and how best to address finance gaps in rewiring economies to be efficient and productive without fossil-fuel use.

A consensus political statement summarising these issues — called a cover text — was expected late Thursday, followed by an open-house plenary meeting with country representation publicly expressing their views on the agreement.

Following the fire, the venue was evacuated. By late evening, the Presidency issued a statement declaring the venue open for delegates to access. “Following a safety assessment, we inform you that the site has been inspected and deemed safe by the Fire Department. Brazilian authorities have restored operating conditions at the conference venue, obtained the Fire Department's operating permit, and returned the area to the UNFCCC,” a statement noted. “There will be no plenary activity this evening. Tomorrow's plenary sessions will be open to Parties, Observers and Media, and will be streamed online.”

In the run-up to COP30, there has been criticism raised about Belem's ability to host the glut of attendees, with cruise ships and ‘love motels' dragooned into doubling as temporary residences. While proceedings and the organisation of events were largely smooth, there were visible instances of leaky patches of turn at the venue from multiple bursts of torrential rains during the 10 days of the summit. The COP is expected to officially end on Friday but history says that the talks frequently run into overtime spilling into the weekend.

Published - November 20, 2025 11:29 pm IST

Brazil / fire / United Nations (climate change)

Source: The Hindu
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