"Brazil greenlights oil drilling in Amazon as environmentalists raise alarm", 20 October 2025

...Brazil’s Petrobras has been given permission to drill for oil near the mouth of the Amazon River, casting a shadow over the country’s green ambitions as it prepares to host UN climate talks...

Brazil will host Cop30 climate talks in the Amazon city of Belem next month.

Petrobras said drilling in the Foz de Amazonas region would begin immediately and would last for five months, after its five-year battle to get permission to explore the area.

“Petrobras met all the requirements established by [environmental watchdog] Ibama, fully complying with the environmental licensing process,” the oil giant said in a statement sent to AFP...

The drilling of Block 59 – which is 160km from the coastline – has been a passion project for Lula, who insists oil revenues will help fund Brazil’s climate transition.

Environmentalists have raised alarm about drilling for oil off the coast of the world’s largest tropical rainforest, a biodiverse area that is home to several Indigenous communities.

Brazil’s Climate Observatory NGO said civil society organizations would go to court to fight the decision, based on “illegalities and technical flaws” in the licensing process...

Ibama denied Petrobras an exploration license in 2023, citing inadequate plans to protect wildlife in case of an oil spill...