Lula brings in the military as Belém braces for COP30

With more than 143 foreign delegations set to turn up in northern Brazil for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) next week, security in the host city of Belém will be under temporary military control to safeguard the global climate talks.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva — who will work from Belém this week — issued a decree on Monday to carry out a Guarantee of Law and Order operation (GLO) in parts of the host city during most of the month of November, a measure only authorized under exceptional circumstances and which employs the Armed Forces in security actions.

The measure will remain in place from now until November 23, encompassing not only COP30 itself (Nov. 10-21), but also this week’s Leaders’ Summit, also held in Belém.