The first trip of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, 78, after his third electoral victory, was to COP27 in Egypt, a year ago now. He wanted to announce to the world that it should count on Brazil in the fight against climate change because he would no longer be the planetary environmental villain of the times of Jair Bolsonaro. The country would once again be a green power, an inspiration. And he began to do his homework: deforestation fell by 22% in the first balance of his presidency, he resumed the demarcation of indigenous lands, he seeks investments for energy transition projects, sustainability is a constant in his speeches… But the recent announcement of joining OPEC as an observer has caused enormous confusion. And controversy. President Lula was attending the COP28 in Dubai last week, when the club of oil-producing countries announced the incorporation. The accession calls into question Lula's commitment to fighting global warming caused by fossil fuels.
Brazil, a continental country, is many things at once. It is home to the largest tropical forest in the world, has the largest reserves of fresh water, protects more tribes of uncontacted indigenous people than anyone else, but at the same time it is the ninth largest oil producer in the world with three million barrels a day and Petrobras is one of the pillars of the economy.
Those who were shocked to learn that the country that is home to 60% of the Amazon entered OPEC as an observer can note in their agendas that the UN climate summit in the Emirates concludes on Tuesday and that on Wednesday Petrobras holds a large auction with more than 600 onshore and offshore oil blocks, including some in environmentally sensitive areas.
In January, Brazil will become the eleventh member of OPEC+, a club of countries like Russia or Mexico that participate as observers for coordination tasks with OPEC but without submitting to production quotas.
To silence the controversy, Lula intervened with some words that fueled the anger of environmentalists and analysts: “I think it is important that we participate [en la OPEP+] because we need to convince oil-producing countries that they must prepare for the end of fossil fuels. And that means taking advantage of the money they earn from oil and investing so that a continent like Africa, like Latin America, can produce the renewable fuels it needs. Especially green hydrogen because, if we don't create alternatives, we won't end fossil fuels.” And in an attempt to make it clear that he will not be in the decision-making core, he compared it to the G7, the club of the richest countries: “I have participated in the G7 + since I became President of the Republic. I go there, I listen, I only speak after the decision is made and I leave.”
That Brazil accepted the OPEC+ invitation right now, in the middle of the COP, is, in the words of a Brazilian diplomatic source, “an own goal.”
For Suely Araujo, from the Climate Observatory, a coalition of NGOs, it was really unexpected. But the underlying decision did not surprise her either because, she explained on the phone, Executive Lula had already shown signs that he was committed to expanding gas and oil exploitation. In this Government two souls coexist that, for environmentalists, are irreconcilable. Araújo, who already presided over the Brazilian Institute of the Environment in Lula's previous era, details that “there is a huge internal contradiction. On the one hand, there is Minister Marina Silva, who has achieved impressive results in deforestation with brave work, although there is still a lack of environmental prosecutors, and the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, who is attracting investments with sustainable sovereign titles to finance transition projects. energy” and then there is the wing that makes a firm commitment to the oil industry.
“We already saw it in the CAP investments [el programa estrella en economía] which includes 335,000 million reais [68.000 millones de dólares] in oil and gas, and now with this auction on the 13th of 603 blocks offshore and onshoreincluding some in very sensitive, unacceptable areas,” continues the public policy coordinator of the Climate Observatory.
Minister Silva, head of Environment and Climate Change, also stressed last Saturday at the COP that “it is imperative to eliminate, as quickly as possible, the dependence of our economies on fossil fuels.” Her boss does not want to hear about drastic measures, as was made clear at the summit that the Amazon countries held in August in Belem (Brazil). The Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, proposed to his counterparts that they commit to giving up oil, but Lula immediately stopped him.
The oil company Petrobras wants to open a new frontier on the equatorial margin in view of the promising and lucrative discoveries in neighboring Guyana, (a key element in the conflict created by Venezuela over the Essequibo) but last May, the government environmental protection agency IBAMA The license was denied, he appealed and is waiting for that appeal to be resolved. Meanwhile, the case has become a powerful symbol of the dilemma that Brazil and Lula have.
“Brazil has to choose between being an environmental power or being a petrostate,” says Araujo. For this veteran, at a time when the planet has experienced the hottest year in history, the choice is clear: “We have a lot to gain if we bet on sustainability, we have to exploit the socio-biodiversity resources that we have, which are many ”.
The battle over the future of fossil fuels is fierce, which is evident at the climate summit in Dubai, a petro-monarchy. At COP28 there are seven oil and gas industry lobbyists for every indigenous person, activist Txai Suruí highlighted this Saturday in her column Folha.
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