The fire broke out at six o'clock in the evening Swedish time in the so-called blue zone, an area that is not accessible to the public and where the countries have their pavilions.
Footage from the scene shows heavy flames shooting from the roof. A statement from the Brazilian presidency and the UN climate secretariat UNFCCC says that emergency services were quickly on site and that the fire was under control within six minutes.
Thirteen people have been treated for smoke inhalation. According to the local fire department, the fire was caused by a microwave or other electrical equipment.
Do not panic
Björn-Ola Linnér, professor of international climate policy at Linköping University, was sitting in a negotiation room when a delegate received a message on his phone that there was a fire.
He saw nothing of the panic described by others, and the evacuation went smoothly – especially considering that there were tens of thousands of people leaving.
There was no panic, but rather so calm that everyone might not have realized there was a fire. It was a bit confused, people were running in different directions in the corridors and no fire alarms were heard.
The meeting has been postponed for a few hours and is scheduled to resume at midnight Swedish time, eight in the evening local time.
Affects the meeting
Lisa Persson, press secretary at the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, is on site in Belém and writes to TT that they are concerned about how the fire and evacuations will affect the meeting.
"We are concerned that this will slow down the negotiations, which have finally gained momentum. For the first time in twenty years, there was a realistic chance of concluding the meeting on time, but now the situation is highly uncertain."
The Brazilian presidency has been pushing for the meeting to be completed on time, but it looks increasingly difficult now.
The first plenary session was scheduled for six o'clock tonight. This indicates that the knots were about to be untied, says Björn-Ola Linnér.
There is a risk that those who want to slow down the negotiations will take advantage of the opportunity to drag out even more time, but Björn-Ola Linnér hopes and believes that today's drama can also have a positive effect.
There can be a feeling that we have been through something together that makes you want to act together.
