MANAUS, Brazil (AP) — With the first U.N. climate talks in the Amazon set for November, Brazil is fast-tracking a series of controversial decisions that undercut its green rhetoric, revealing mounting political pressure on the federal environmental agency and widening divisions within President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s cabinet. The country’s federal environmental agency approved an emergency plan for an offshore drilling bid by state-run Petrobras near the mouth of the Amazon River. It also greenlit the clearance for a rock-blasting operation along 40 kilometers of the Tocantins River to enable year-round navigation, despite criticism from local grassroots organizations. Lula has defended the actions, saying Brazil has ambitious climate goals and has a high percentage of clean energy.
Reporting by Fabiano Maisonnave, Associated Press
Banner image: A boy kicks a soccer ball near signage for the COP30 U.N. Climate Conference in Belem, Brazil, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz, File)
