As officials from Brazil, the host of this year’s COP30 climate talks, were at a summit Tuesday aimed at getting countries to follow their commitments to stave off climate catastrophe, the Brazilian government was taking bids from companies hoping to find new sources of oil near the mouth of the Amazon River.
Nineteen of the 47 offshore areas in the Amazon basin offered during Tuesday’s auction were picked up by consortia involving Chevron, Exxon Mobil and Brazil’s state-run oil giant Petrobras.
The auction opens hundreds of square miles of ocean to drilling at a time when the world is failing to move away from the oil, gas and coal that are the main cause of global heating.
Brazil’s domestic energy demands are met largely by clean energy, particularly hydropower, and it has become a major market for China’s electric vehicles. But its eagerness to tap into its oil wealth highlights the challenges that face growing economies as they seek to leave fossil fuels behind.
