Brazilian President Lula wants plan to move away from fossil fuels within 60 days

According to severalmedia outlets, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has given four state institutions 60 days to prepare a plan for how Brazil can “gradually and fairly” reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. This follows the United Nations climate conference, which took place in the Brazilian city of Belém this November.

Specifically, the institutions are the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of the Environment and the Office of the Chief of Staff. Ana Toni, who directed this year’s COP30 conference and is also a secretary at Brazil’s Ministry of the Environment, told the Financial Times that she believes Brazil could demonstrate to other economies how to gradually move away from fossil fuels.

The decree calls on the institutions to propose financing for the energy transition, including the creation of a special fund financed by government revenues from fossil fuels. Brazil’s energy sector has a distinctive structure: a significant share of its output is already supplied by renewables and biofuels. Most CO2 emissions come mainly from transport. However, Brazil is among the world’s ten largest oil producers, and oil is also its main export commodity. Brazil also still plans to become one of the five largest oil producers by the end of the decade, when production is also expected to peak.

Chaotic policy

The current Brazilian administration is characterised by ambiguity over fossil fuels. On the one hand, Lula and his Workers’ Party represent a more “pro-environment” or progressive wing of Brazilian politics, particularly when it comes to logging in the Amazon rainforest and the rights of Indigenous people. When it comes to fossil fuels, however, the situation is much more complicated. According to available information, the current energy minister is pushing harder for new exploration along the Brazilian coast. The state-owned company Petrobras, which has been at the centre of scandals involving the current president in the past, received permission to carry out exploratory drilling shortly before the aforementioned COP conference.

On the other hand, the current environment minister has long advocated stronger climate policies. She has never openly clashed with other members of the government in public, but has said she would support limits on further exploration for oil and gas fields. Toni also says Brazil could take inspiration from countries such as Norway, which have managed to transform their energy base despite relying heavily on exports of oil products.

At COP30, Brazil advocated a complete phase-out of fossil fuels at the global level. These proposals, however, did not pass because of opposition from major oil exporters, particularly those in the Arab world.