Brazil hosts major oil and gas event as Climate Week NYC unfurls

World leaders and climate authorities have been gathered for almost a week in New York for Climate Week NYC, one of the largest climate events of the year ahead of COP29. Meanwhile, Rio de Janeiro has been dubbed the “world’s oil capital” for the week.

Promoted by the Brazilian Institute of Oil and Gas (IBP), Rio has been hosting an event known as ROGe, which has been attended by the Brazilian Minister of Mining and Energy, the CEOs of Petrobras, Shell, BP, and Exxon as well as Haitham Al Ghais, OPEC’s Secretary General.

The “e” added to the event’s name — which used to be simply Rio Oil and Gas — is a reference to other forms of energy.

“With the slogan ‘Connecting Energies,’ the conference will broaden its scope this year, embracing more stakeholders in an energy transition scenario and giving greater prominence to new energy sources,” according to IBP’s official website.

But for some, the rebranding does not correspond to reality. “The event aims to advance the energy transition but features as its main speakers the executives of the largest oil companies in the world,” Tica Minami, ClimaInfo’s project coordinator, told Gas Outlook.

The event’s opening was marked by controversial declarations by both Magda Chambriard, Petrobras’s CEO, and Alexandre Silveira, Minister of Mining and Energy. Both agreed that Brazil has a clean energy matrix, and that there’s no problem with continuing to explore oil. Silveira added that the country will not yield to what he called “international extremism.”

“Brazil is indeed ahead of other G20 countries in terms of renewable energy. But that doesn’t mean we have done our homework,” Ricardo Baitelo, project manager at the Institute of Energy and Environment, told Gas Outlook. “There is still a long way to go until the complete decarbonisation of our economy, and an even longer one if we want to help the rest of the world in this process.”

For Petrobras’s Chambriard, who defends exploring oil in the Amazon Basin, there is no contradiction between energy transition and expanding the exploration of fossil fuels. In the event’s opening, she defended that “Brazilian oil emits one third [of emissions] of the global average and, therefore, helps decarbonise the economy.”

To that, Baitelo explained that the same is true for oil produced in countries like the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, meaning that Brazil wouldn’t necessarily be the market’s first option.

“Moreover, it’s important to clarify that most emissions related to oil come from its burning, not its exploration. So, even if it isn’t consumed in Brazil, our oil will be contributing to the increase in the level of greenhouse effect gases globally.” 

ROGe’s opening was also stage to Silveira’s announcement that Brazil will cooperate with India to explore for oil and gas offshore, in the Indian Ocean. The minister added that the country will not renounce opening new oil frontiers and that the country can’t go from being an exporter to being an importer.

“That position makes no sense when we consider that fossil fuel demand is set to peak by 2030 and then recede, as the world invests in more renewable sources,” Ilan Zugman 350.org director for Latin America and the Caribbean told Gas Outlook.

“Any new oil well opened today won’t be productive until six to seven years from now, so there’s a large chance that Brazil will end up with stranded assets, unable to commercialise it.”

For Zugman, Brazil should be neither an exporter or an importer: “we need to reduce oil reserves and gradually replace them with other resources, so as to maintain market value.”

He added that it’s a matter of seizing strategic opportunities. “Brazil has a huge renewable potential. We must decide if we want to be one of the last countries in the world to decarbonise, being stuck with stranded assets, or if we want to be a leader in energy transition.”

Climate leader or oil tycoon?

In his speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, Lula da Silva talked about the world’s weakened capacity for collective climate negotiation. He called it “an expression of the paradox of our time: we move around in circles among feasible commitments that lead to insufficient results.”

Brazil’s president mentioned “neglected carbon emission reduction targets” and how the country is emerging “as a source of opportunities” for energy transition.

But for Stela Herschmann, International Policy Advisor at Observatório do Clima, the climate leader the world was waiting for did not show up. “The climate crisis was but one on a long list of issues addressed by Lula. He made a timid statement about the climate ambition needed at this current moment, despite outlining the profound and serious impacts we are already experiencing,” she said.

As this year’s G20 host, Brazil has given priority for the climate agenda. The event is considered an opportunity for the country to establish itself as a leader, especially in terms of bridging the gaps in climate finance, something Lula continues to demand of richer countries.   

But, for Minami, the country is sending dubious signals to the world.

During Climate Week NYC, the Brazilian Minister of Finance Fernando Haddad has met with international investors to present the progress of the country’s ecological transformation plan and to attract investments to “Brazil’s Green”.

Delegates at Climate Week NYC 2024 (Photo: Gas Outlook)

Meanwhile in Rio, Silveira invited those who “believe in the continued demand for oil and gas” to invest in the country.

Making these contradictions even starker, BBC Brasil reported that Lula met with Shell’s CEO, Wael Sawan, and the head of Shell Brazil, Cristiano Pinto in an event that was not part of his official agenda and that government interlocutors said they were instructed not to disclose.

As COP 30, the so-called “Amazon COP” nears next year, there is growing criticism from climate activists home and abroad of Brazil’s continued defence of oil exploration in the Amazon Basin.

“Brazil cannot be a global leader on the climate agenda while seeking to extract oil ‘to the last drop’,” said Minami. “The time has come to choose which side we’re on.”