Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, at center, with other world leaders during the family photo on Friday in Belem, just before the start of the COP30 UN climate summit.
Photographer: Wagner Meier/Getty ImagesLula Tries to Expand Oil and Rainforests as Climate World Comes to Brazil
Playing host to COP30 while balancing economic growth with his environmental agenda presents risks for Brazil’s president
A climate champion calling for more oil. A rainforest defender greenlighting a highway through a pristine part of the Amazon. A promoter of a new Brazilian bioeconomy who accommodates the old beef industry.
These are the tensions that will define the climate legacy of Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, host of the COP30 UN summit that starts after a preliminary gathering of world leaders wrapped up Friday in the rainforest city of Belém. Lula, who plans to run for a fourth term in 2026, insists there’s no contradiction: drilling for oil is essential to fund the country’s energy transition, and commodity-driven agriculture networked by roads can coexist with forest preservation.