Brasilia, Oct. 23, 2025 (Lusa) - Several non-governmental organisations filed a lawsuit in Brazilian courts on Thursday to annul Petrobras' oil-drilling licence in an area near the mouth of the Amazon River.
The eight organisations that filed the lawsuit - including Greenpeace, WWF and Brazil's main indigenous organisation - asked a federal court for a precautionary suspension of the drilling, which Petrobras began immediately after obtaining authorisation to explore for crude oil reserves.
The complaint argues that the licence ignores the climate impact of oil extraction in the region, such as the increase in polluting gas emissions and the consequences of a possible spill on an extremely sensitive ecosystem.
According to the associations, Petrobras' environmental assessments contain "flaws" and do not account for regional factors that influence oil dispersion, such as subsurface currents.
According to environmental organisations, around 20% of the crude oil extracted from this well, located about 500 kilometres from the mouth of the Amazon, could sink and affect the Amazon coral reef system.
In addition, the organisations claim that "free, prior and informed" consultations were not held with the indigenous peoples of the region, which is contrary to international treaties signed by Brazil.
"The licence must be annulled as a matter of urgency, since it was granted without studies that adequately identify and mitigate the socio-environmental risks and impacts," said Greenpeace's legal officer in the country, Angela Barbarulo, quoted in a statement.
Brazil's Environment Ministry defended the "rigour" of the licensing process on Monday, which lasted almost five years, and said that Petrobras had made improvements to the project to respond to possible emergencies.
The area has a potential of 10 billion recoverable barrels. It could attract investments of 300 billion reais (€48 billion), according to the government, which says it is already the world's seventh-largest producer of crude oil.
The oil authorisation comes at a delicate time, less than a month before Brazil hosts the UN climate summit (COP30) in the Amazonian city of Belém, an event at which the country intends to present itself as a world leader on the environmental agenda.
Brazil's Environment Minister, Marina Silva, today acknowledged the contradiction of authorising oil drilling at the mouth of the Amazon just a few days before the United Nations Climate Summit (COP30) kicks off in the Brazilian Amazon.
In an interview with an official body of the Brazilian government (Canal Gov), Marina Silva, a recognised environmental leader who has returned to the ministry she occupied during Lula da Silva's first government (2003-2006) (from which she left due to disagreements over environmental policy) said that "there is a contradiction that people are raising, and with good reason".
"Society is debating not just Brazil, but the whole world. We need to get away from our dependence on fossil fuels, because they're what are heating up the Earth's temperature. What is the way to do this? Fair planning so that everyone can make the transition," she emphasised.
Even so, she guaranteed that there was no political pressure and that "all the technical work was done with the utmost rigour".
MIM/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
