São Paulo, Brazil, Less than a month before COP30 in Belém, Brazil's environmental agency, IBAMA, has granted Petrobras a licence to explore oil in the Foz do Amazonas Basin. The region is rich in marine biodiversity and home to a massive reef system of vital ecological importance for the Atlantic Ocean and for Indigenous, quilombola, and traditional communities that depend on the coastal Amazon for survival.
Mariana Andrade, Oceans Campaign Coordinator, Greenpeace Brazil said: "On the eve of COP30, Brazil puts on a green facade on the international stage, yet stains itself with oil at home. While the world looks to the Amazon for solutions to the climate crisis, we see IBAMA granting Petrobras permission to drill for oil in the very heart of the planet."
Beyond the contradiction between Brazil's climate discourse and the advance of a new oil frontier in the country, opening new oil wells goes against Brazil's own commitments to an energy transition and merely reinforces exclusionary, unsustainable, and environmentally harmful patterns.
Andrade continued: "There is no possible energy transition when its foundation is destruction. The decision to open a new exploratory frontier at the mouth of the Amazon reveals a profit-driven logic that perpetuates inequality. Petrobras has the capacity to redirect its efforts toward a truly decarbonisation-focused strategy and to contribute coherently to the climate commitments Brazil has undertaken."
Daniela Jerez, legal counsel, Greenpeace Brazil recalled that the controversial licensing process for Block 59 dragged on for over a decade and contains serious procedural flaws and said: "The license for Block 59 has severe procedural and substantive deficiencies, violating the Constitution, international treaties, and environmental law. By law, a licence can only be granted when there is clear evidence that the company is capable of preventing and responding to the risks involved - yet the emergency plans presented during the licensing process are insufficient and fail to demonstrate such capacity. Moreover, there was no adequate assessment of the impacts on Indigenous peoples, nor free, prior, and informed consultation. These flaws render the licence invalid and subject to judicial challenge."
Oil exploration in this area poses a high risk of contamination from spills and chemical pollution, potentially compromising fragile ecosystems, public health, and the livelihoods of coastal communities. Such operations exacerbate social and environmental vulnerabilities in affected towns and regions.
In April 2024, the Amapá Institute for Scientific and Technological Research (IEPA), with support from Greenpeace Brazil, released a study showing that an oil spill in the region could reach Pan-Amazonian countries and the coasts of Amapá and Pará, causing devastating impacts on marine life and local populations.[1]
