"Brazil wanted the U.N. summit to make it a leader on climate, despite signing off on oil drilling near the Amazon and gutting environmental permit law."
"BELÉM, Brazil — Brazil intended this year’s United Nations climate talks now underway in the Amazon rainforest, to be the capstone of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s effort to establish the country as a global environmental leader.
Instead, Brazil’s own domestic environmental policy is in disarray, as the summit known as COP30 struggles to offer a counterpoint to the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts to promote fossil fuels. Despite Lula’s soaring rhetoric and Amazon deforestation dropping to its lowest level in 11 years, he has pushed ahead with offshore oil drilling and a highway being built through the Amazon as lawmakers are separately pressing to gut environmental permitting laws.
With the United States shifting gears, large developing countries like China, India and Brazil are playing an even more outsize role in charting the world’s climate trajectory. The developing world is already on track to be responsible for the vast majority of the growth in greenhouse gas emissions in the next few years, as richer nations — especially in Europe — adopt green technology and slash their climate pollution.
What South America’s largest country does has major implications for the world’s climate. Brazil is the world’s fifth-largest greenhouse gas emitter, responsible for about 3 percent of global emissions. And it is the seventh-largest oil producer, exporting much of it overseas."
Jake Spring and Marina Dias report for the Washington Post November 17, 2025.
SEE ALSO:
"Nations Hit By Natural Disasters Tell Ministers At Climate Talks To Act" (AP)
"As Nations Push For More Ambition At Climate Talks, Chairman Says They May Get It" (AP)
"In This Brazilian State, A New Push To Track Cattle Is Key To Slowing Deforestation" (AP)
"‘Additional Promises Mean Nothing’: The Awkward Flaw In The World’s Climate Talks" (Politico)
"European Parliament Backs Diluted 2040 Climate Targets" (AFP)
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