Amazon Summit: Oil projects keep flowing despite civil society opposition
A lone voice in the defense of generations to come, Colombian President Gustavo Petro has proposed a ban on new oil contracts in the planet’s largest tropical rainforest, but Lula and the leaders of the other six countries who will be in Belém do not appear to support him
Latin America busts 1.5 ºC hopes with fossil fuel investments
Countries are betting on oil and gas in the Amazon and beyond, but not without resistance. Civil society in Ecuador has secured a referendum on exploration in the rainforest, while Colombia’s President Petro is trying to free his country from coal
Government leader Randolfe Rodrigues sells out the environment
In denying the oil giant Petrobras a license to drill at the mouth of the Amazon, the president of Brazil’s environmental agency has shown that the Lula administration is willing to maintain its commitment to protecting the rainforest and combatting global heating. The greatest backlash has come from an ally, the government’s leader in Congress, heralding the onset of “friendly fire.”
Environment agency bars oil drilling in the Amazon
Ibama chief Rodrigo Agostinho says Petrobras oil project is “infeasible” from an environmental standpoint, in line with technical report first covered exclusively by SUMAÚMA. The decision is a boost to Environment Minister Marina Silva
Exclusive: Ibama study opposes Amazon oil plan
A technical report states that Petrobras' request is unfeasible from an environmental point of view, but the decision is up to the Institute’s President, Rodrigo Agostinho
Lula faces civil society resistance to Amazon oil exploration
Eighty organizations have written to government ministers and public officials warning about the risks of exploration and the need to establish sound technical and scientific precautions to avoid catastrophe.
No license renewal for Belo Monte unless standards improve, says Ibama chief
In an exclusive interview with SUMAÚMA Rodrigo Agostinho, the new president of Brazil’s environmental protection agency Ibama, says the "life of the river" will be paramount in deciding whether to extend the operation of the destructive dam on the Xingu. On the Petrobras application to explore for oil at the mouth of the Amazon river, he insists “every possible and imaginable impact” must first be examined.
Indigenous people finally get a say in oil project at mouth of the Amazon
Nine years after the licensing process for Block 59 began, the people of the Oiapoque region are granted a first meeting with Petrobras in which they reveal the project is already impacting their lives. It is very late to consult them. An accident simulation test, which is regarded as the final stage of the process, is scheduled for this month
‘When the tide turns…the slick will come’
The imminent drilling of a well by Brazilian oil giant Petrobras in the Foz do Amazonas region is a foreseeable catastrophe which will test President Lula’s commitment to the environment
