‘Historic Mistake’: Brazil greenlights Amazon oil Drilling, Sparking Outcry Ahead of COP30
Belém, Brazil – In a move condemned by environmental groups and scientists, Brazil’s environmental agency, IBAMA, has approved a controversial license for oil drilling in the Amazon River’s mouth, just months before the nation hosts the 30th United Nations Climate Change conference (COP30). The decision, announced October 20, 2025, has been labeled a “historic mistake” and is expected to face legal challenges.
the Climate Observatory stated the approval “sabotages” COP30, which World Meteorological Association Secretary-General Celeste Sauro recently described as a potential “turning point” – a moment when the world moves “from ambition to implementation.”
The license allows for exploration and potential extraction by state-owned oil company Petrobras in the Foz do Amazonas basin, a highly sensitive marine ecosystem. This decision comes as the world grapples with escalating climate impacts; last year marked the first time global average temperatures exceeded 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, and the past decade has been the warmest on record. Scientists and the International Energy Agency have repeatedly warned that no new fossil fuel projects are compatible with limiting global warming to 1.5°C and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
“The decision is disastrous from an environmental, climate, and sociobiodiversity viewpoint,” the Climate Observatory declared. The group confirmed it will pursue legal action against the Brazilian government, alleging “illegalities and technical flaws” in the approval process.
Internal dissent within IBAMA itself underscores the concerns. An opinion signed by 29 agency staff members in February recommended denying the license, citing the risk of “massive biodiversity loss” in the region.
Environmental advocates point to the potential for devastating consequences. Greenpeace International co-head of story and communications, Nick Young, called the decision “disastrous,” warning that “a spill here would be catastrophic and uniquely hard to contain in the Amazon plume.” He added,”And in addition to the risk of oil spills,the science clearly shows that we cannot afford to burn even existing oil reserves,let alone new ones. For us all to have a future, the oil industry can have no future. It makes zero sense to allow them to find new oil to throw on the fire.”
The move also flies in the face of demands from Indigenous leaders, representing dozens of Amazon ethnicities and tribes, who earlier this year signed a declaration calling for the “nullification of oil blocks that have not had the consent of Indigenous people,” a “halt [to] investment in new oil infrastructure,” and the creation of phase-out plans for existing oil and gas operations, specifically ahead of COP30.
Zugman, a spokesperson for the Climate Observatory, echoed these concerns, stating, “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.”
