Less than one month before the UN Climate Conference in Belém, the Brazilian government – host of COP30, the “Amazon COP” – has approved the drilling license for block FZA-M-59 in the Amazon River basin. Observers believe that the decision has the potential to undermine Brazil’s climate leadership and may create challenges for the country to deliver concrete results for the Amazon and the global climate at COP30.
Others feel that the decision ignores scientific warnings, international commitments and, above all, the voices of the peoples and communities who have lived in and protected the Amazon for centuries.
“Authorising oil drilling in the Amazon not only threatens critical ecosystems but also repeats the same logic that has brought us to the brink of climate collapse,” submitted 350.org.
The group’s Latin America and Caribbean Director, Ilan Zugman, said: “Authorising new oil licences in the Amazon is not just a historic mistake – it’s doubling down on a model that has already failed. The history of oil in Brazil shows this clearly: huge profits for a few, and inequality, destruction, and violence for local populations.
“Brazil must take real climate leadership and break the cycle of extraction that has led us to the current climate crisis. We urgently need a just energy transition plan, based on renewables, that respects Indigenous, quilombola, and riverside peoples and guarantees them a leading role in decisions about climate and energy – including at COP30,”
350.org called on people, social movements, scientists, political leaders, and all sectors committed to climate justice to unite in reversing the decision and pressuring the Brazilian government – and governments worldwide.
“We must demand not only the cancellation of this and future oil exploration projects in the Amazon, but also the collective construction of an energy transition plan that: Respects Indigenous, quilombola, and riverside territories; Ensures these communities play a leading role in energy and climate decision-making; and, Prioritises clean, decentralised energy built for people’s well-being, not for the profit of a few.”
Indeed, civil society groups and social movements are taking the case to Brazilian courts, even as they called the license environmentally and socially disastrous. They denounced serious irregularities and technical flaws in the process, which could render it invalid.
They contended that the approval contradicts the global scientific consensus around climate change, and it also defies recent rulings from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the International Court of Justice, who both reaffirmed states’ legal duty to halt fossil fuel expansion and protect the climate.
Suely Araújo, Public Policy Coordinator at the Climate Observatory, said: “The issuance of the license for Block 59 is a double act of sabotage. On the one hand, the Brazilian government is acting against humanity by encouraging further fossil fuel expansion, defying science, and betting on further global warming. On the other, it is disrupting COP30 itself, whose most important deliverable must be the implementation of the determination to phase out fossil fuels. Lula has just buried his claim to be a climate leader at the bottom of the ocean at the mouth of the Amazon. The government will be duly prosecuted for this in the coming days.”
Dr. Carlos Nobre, Co-Chair, The Amazon Scientific Panel: “The Amazon is dangerously close to the point of no return, which will be irreversibly reached if global warming hits 2°C and deforestation surpasses 20%. Beyond eliminating all deforestation, degradation, and fires in the Amazon, it is urgent to reduce all fossil fuel emissions. There is no justification for any new oil exploration. On the contrary, rapidly phasing out existing fossil fuel operations is essential.”
Paulo Artaxo, Physicist and Professor, University of São Paulo; IPCC member, expert on climate crisis and the Amazon: “The worsening of the climate crisis, caused by the production and burning of fossil fuels, leaves no doubt that we must accelerate the energy transition to solar and wind power. Brazil has the opportunity to harness its vast potential for solar and wind generation and become a global powerhouse in sustainable energy. We must not waste this opportunity. Opening new oil fields will only deepen the climate crisis and clearly goes against the interests of the Brazilian people.”
Livia Duarte, Congresswoman from Pará State: “We need a global agreement to phase out fossil fuels. Until that happens, oil companies should not be opening new drilling sites for oil and gas. And this must begin with the Amazon, a critical area for biodiversity and the global climate. Corporate profit should never take precedence over life on the planet. Granting a license in Block FZA-M-59, in the Amazon River estuary basin, is a dangerous choice for Brazil.”
Ivan Valente, Congressman from São Paulo State: “It is imperative to establish priority exclusion zones to stop the expansion of fossil fuels, protecting ecosystems that are critical for life on Earth. Given its immense importance for the climate and biodiversity – both facing global crises – the Amazon must be one of these zones. Authorising drilling in Block FZA-M-59, in the estuarine basin of the Amazon, is a path that will prove irreversible and disastrous for both climate and biodiversity.”
Clara Junger, Campaign Coordinator for Brazil, Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative: “It is unacceptable for the government to continue promoting oil and gas exploration in the Amazon basin, an area vital for climate and biodiversity protection. This decision undermines commitments to the energy transition and puts communities, ecosystems, and the planet at risk. Contrary to official claims, oil revenues contribute almost nothing to the transition – only 0.06%. We need a global agreement to end oil extraction in a fair, equitable, and sustainable way. Until then, the very least we must do is prevent further expansion.”