This screen grab taken from AFPTV video footage shows emergency crews battling a fire that broke out at a pavilion inside the venue of the COP30 UN Climate Change Conference in Belem, Para state, Brazil. Photo: AFPTV
A fire erupted in a pavilion of the UN climate talks in Brazil on Thursday (local time), forcing panicked delegates to run for the exits and interrupting negotiations.
UN and security crews rushed with extinguishers to put out the fierce blaze, which quickly tore a hole in the fabric roof of the COP30 summit site in Belem as smoke engulfed the corridor and people shouted "fire!"
The fire was brought under control and no injuries were reported, Brazilian Tourism Minister Celso Sabino said. The cause was not immediately known but Sabino said it might have resulted from a short circuit or other electrical malfunction.
The UN body that oversees the COP talks said there had been "limited damage" but the site would reopen no sooner than 8pm (12pm Friday NZT).
Firefighters arrived at the scene as smoke billowed inside and out of the conference, which is being held in a compound that includes a permanent structure and large tents in the city at the edge of the Amazon, with tens of thousands of people in attendance.
The fire started in a country pavilion inside the site's "blue zone," meaning under UN control, near the entrance of COP30. A light drizzle caused people outside to cheer and cleansed an acrid stench, but it was unclear when the site would reopen.
The fire took place as ministers were deep in negotiations aimed at breaking a deadlock over fossil fuels, climate finance and trade measures, with one day left in the two-week conference.
"It will absolutely delay the process because this is like the crucial time, this the time when we have to decide on the process that started last week," Windyo Laksono, a member of the Indonesian delegation, told AFP.
"Some of us were still negotiating inside the room but due to the fire I think the process will stop for a while," he said.
Smoke inhalation
Dr Kimberly Humphrey, an emergency medicine specialist attending COP30 with Doctors for the Environment Australia, was working in a room when she received messages about a fire.
Humphrey left the site and volunteered at a medical center where some people were treated for smoke inhalation and others suffered emotional distress.
"It's not what you expect to happen when you are at a conference," she told AFP.
"Initially, there's a sense of disbelief. ... The first thing I thought was, 'oh, this isn't real,'" Humphrey said.
"It's really a combination of terror and not having a good emergency plan, not knowing where the exits are, but also what I need to do as a doctor and needing to help people, too."
Delegates head away from the scene. Photo: Supplied / Francisco Hernandez
Two women who worked in a pavilion belonging to an international organization told AFP that the facilities had been fitted with makeshift electrical wiring.
There were exposed wires and water dripped from the roof onto their electrical panel, they said on condition of anonymity, adding that they reported the issues but to no avail.
Delegates said neither the fire alarms nor the sprinklers went off, though Brazilian volunteers handled the evacuation smoothly.
"It's a COP of strange events," said an African delegate, recalling an instance last week when Indigenous protesters forced their way inside.
Firefighters battle a fire that broke out in a pavilion at the COP30 UN Climate Change Conference venue in Belem, Para state, Brazil. Photo: PABLO PORCIUNCULA / AFP
Smoke in the air near the venue. Photo: Supplied / Francisco Hernandez
'World is watching Belem'
Joao Paulo Capobianco, executive secretary of Brazil's environment ministry, told television channel GNews that there were apparently "no serious consequences" from the fire and the electrical system was up and running again.
"No negotiation room was affected. No area used by delegations was affected," he said.
Nearly 200 countries have spent the past two weeks hashing out issues at COP30 -- from a "roadmap" to transition away from fossil fuels proposed by host Brazil, to concerns over weak emissions-reduction plans, finance for developing countries, and trade barriers.
Earlier in the day, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged negotiators to reach an "ambitious compromise."
"The world is watching Belem," he told reporters during a morning news conference, as nations awaited a new draft negotiating text before the summit officially closes on Friday evening.
- AFP
