Senate approves symbolic transfer from Brazil’s capital to Belém during COP30

The Federal Senate approved on Tuesday, 7, the symbolic transfer from the capital of the Republic to the city of Belém during the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, COP30, between November 11 and 21.

The project now goes to the presidential sanction. The text, authored by Deputy Duda Salabert (PDT-MG), provides that the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary Powers may settle in the capital of Pará to conduct their activities during the established period.

The acts and orders signed by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his ministers between November 11 and 21 will therefore be registered as if they had been made in Belém.

The project also states that “the Executive Power will regulate this law, establishing the administrative, operational and logistics measures necessary for the implementation of the temporary transfer of the federal government’s headquarters.”

The deputy justifies the proposal for the importance of the event for Brazil and the Amazon, which she defines as a strategic region for facing the global climate crisis.

“The temporary transfer from Brazil’s capital to Belém during the event reinforces the importance of the Amazon on the international environmental agenda, allowing a greater dialogue between Brazilian authorities and foreign delegations, as well as boosting local development and strengthening the role of Brazil as a protagonist in climate negotiations,” she writes.

Salabert says that the measure is supported by article 48 of the Federal Constitution, which attributes to Congress the competence to dispose of the temporary transfer of the headquarters of the federal government. It cites a similar measure adopted in 1992, when the capital was transferred from Brasilia to Rio de Janeiro due to the United Nations Conference for Environment and Development, which became known as Eco-92 or Rio-92.

“This measure would demonstrate the commitment of the Brazilian government and parliament to environmental issues and the need to find effective solutions to a problem that affects the entire planet, integrating with international efforts to promote a sustainable future, in full consonance, also, with the fulfillment of the objectives of sustainable development, especially the 13 (action against the global change of climate) and the 16 (peace, justice and institutions), adding the efforts of the Brazilian state to the knowledge of the Brazilian state. Forest Peoples and Communities – Fundamental Tools in the addressing of climate change. ”