The 30th session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP30, to be held in Brazil in 2025, will be held in Belém, Brazil, between November 10–21, 2025. Belém is the capital of the Brazilian state of Pará and an important port city located at the mouth of the Amazon River and on the border of the Amazon rainforest.
This summit will be held for the first time in the Amazon region and is of great importance in terms of opening Brazil’s commitments to combating climate change and strategies for protecting the Amazon ecosystem to global discussion.
The COP30 Climate Summit is a critical turning point in the fight against global climate change. This summit, which will be held with the aim of deepening the implementation of the Paris Agreement, reducing carbon emissions and accelerating the transition to renewable energy sources, is an important platform for world countries to update their climate policies and commitments.
The COP30 to be held in Belém offers an important opportunity in line with the region’s ecological sensitivities and sustainable development goals. However, during this process, issues such as minimizing environmental impacts and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples must also be carefully addressed.
The COP30 to be held in Belém aims to strengthen global cooperation in the fight against climate change by bringing together world leaders, scientists, civil society organizations and other stakeholders. This summit will also showcase Brazil’s environmental and social policies in the Amazon region at an international level and has the potential to create a model for sustainable development.
As the host country, Brazil must develop strategies that are compatible with global climate goals, both in terms of protecting tropical forests and ensuring energy supply security. However, the 172 oil and gas field tenders planned by the Brazilian National Petroleum Agency (ANP) in 2025 are causing significant debates that contradict the ecological sensitivities of the Amazon Basin.
The contribution of fossil fuels to carbon emissions, the potential of renewable energy, and the importance of the energy transition are discussed in detail, revealing the delicate balance between a sustainable energy policy and ecological protection. Brazil’s current status in the field of energy and ecology and future scenarios are analyzed in line with scientific sources and data, far from political commentary.
Brazil is an important actor in the world energy market thanks to its vast natural resources and geographical diversity. The country invests heavily in renewable resources in energy production and has high potential in areas such as hydroelectricity, biomass, wind, and solar energy. As of 2023, 83% of electricity production will come from renewable sources. However, despite this positive picture, the 172 oil and gas field tenders announced by the Brazilian National Petroleum Agency in 2025, although designed to diversify energy supply and reduce external dependency, have the potential to conflict with climate targets.
Approximately 47 of these fields are within the borders of the Amazon Basin and cover a total area of 146,000 km². It is estimated that the carbon equivalent emissions to be released into the atmosphere from the planned extraction of fossil fuels from the oil fields in the Amazon alone will be around 4.7 billion tons. This value constitutes a significant portion of the carbon budget that Brazil can use to meet the 1.5 °C global warming limit.
Since the continued use of fossil fuels accounts for approximately 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions, the choices to be made in this area in energy policies are at the center of the fight against climate change. Although the expansion of the fossil fuel sector in Brazil provides advantages in terms of economic growth and energy supply security in the short term, it can create serious incompatibility with climate targets in the long term.
In addition to being the largest tropical forest area in the world, the Amazon is a critical part of the global ecological balance with its carbon storage capacity and biodiversity. The region acts as a carbon sink by removing approximately 20 billion tons of carbon from the atmosphere. However, deforestation and industrial activities are weakening this function of the Amazon.
The expansion of oil and natural gas fields puts pressure on the ecosystem due to habitat fragmentation, infrastructure construction, pipelines and highway projects. As a result, erosion in forest areas, habitat loss of species and a decrease in biodiversity are observed.
The expansion of oil and gas fields, habitat fragmentation, infrastructure construction, pipelines and highway projects create pressure on the ecosystem. As a result, erosion in forest areas, loss of habitats for species and a decrease in biodiversity are observed. In addition, methane emissions increase due to gas flaring and leaks from oil extraction activities, which is a more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide in the short term.
The fact that the living spaces of indigenous peoples and local residents are under threat also disrupts the balance of social-ecological systems and harms sustainable development goals.
Brazil is among the leading countries in the world in renewable energy sources. Hydroelectric energy accounts for 60% of the country’s total electricity generation capacity. In addition, investments in biomass, wind and solar energy are increasing rapidly. As of 2023, the installed wind energy capacity reached 21 GW and solar energy reached 34 GW.
Within the scope of energy transition policies, these resources, which will replace fossil fuels, play a critical role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, in Brazil, only 0.06% of oil revenues are transferred to renewable energy investments, which is insufficient to accelerate the transition.
In order to ensure energy supply security, renewables should be supported more, dependence on fossil fuels should be reduced and carbon capture technologies should be expanded. In this way, both economic development can be supported and climate change targets can be achieved.
In order to limit global warming to 1.5 °C, countries in the Paris Agreement have made commitments to reduce carbon emissions. Brazil’s planned oil tender will lead to an increase in new fossil fuel production and consumption, creating a situation that will strain the carbon budget.
According to calculations, the use of planned oil fields could create greenhouse gas emissions of approximately 11 billion tons of CO₂ equivalent, which corresponds to approximately 5% of the world’s remaining carbon budget for the 1.5 °C target. This situation reveals the need to develop an energy policy compatible with sustainable development and ecological protection goals.
Ahead of the COP30 Climate Summit, Brazil’s energy policies are an important agenda item that needs to be aligned with global climate goals. While plans to expand the country’s oil and natural gas fields appear to be compatible with short-term energy supply security and economic growth goals, they increase the risks of climate change, carbon emissions and ecological destruction in the long term.
Protecting one of the world’s most valuable carbon sinks, the Amazon Basin, is critical not only for Brazil but also for the global climate balance. Fossil fuel projects that will trigger deforestation, habitat loss and greenhouse gas increases contradict sustainability goals.
On the other hand, Brazil’s strong renewable energy potential and growth dynamics in the sector hold promise for accelerating the energy transition. Reducing fossil fuel investments and intensive investments in renewable energy will serve both to reduce carbon emissions and to protect the ecosystem.
As a result, Brazil’s energy policy decisions that are compatible with climate science will also be reflected in the decisions to be taken at the COP30 summit; this situation will be decisive in terms of both the country’s economy and global climate policies. Limiting fossil fuels and promoting renewable energy will be key to Brazil achieving both its energy supply security and ecological sustainability goals.
Sources
- International Energy Agency (IEA), World Energy Outlook 2023, https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2023
- Brezilya Ulusal Petrol Ajansı (ANP), Planlanan Petrol ve Doğalgaz Sahaları İhalesi Raporu 2025, https://www.gov.br/anp/pt-br
- Carbon Tracker Initiative, Global Fossil Fuel Production Gap Report 2024, https://carbontracker.org/reports/global-fossil-fuel-production-gap/
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), AR6 Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/
- United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Oil and Gas Activities, https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions
- Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21), Renewables 2024 Global Status Report, https://www.ren21.net/reports/global-status-report/
- Empresa de Pesquisa Energética (EPE), Brazilian Energy Matrix Annual Report 2024, https://www.epe.gov.br/en
- earth, “Oil from the Amazon Mouth Could Emit 4.7 Billion Tons of Greenhouse Gases,” May 2025, https://stand.earth/news/amazon-oil-emissions
- AP News, “Brazil’s Oil Auction Raises Climate Concerns Ahead of UN Talks,” June 2025, https://apnews.com/article/brazil-oil-auction-climate-
- The Guardian, “Brazil to Auction Oil Exploration Blocks in Amazon Ahead of COP30,” June 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/brazil-oil-auction
She graduated from Çankaya University Faculty of Law in 2005. In the same year, she completed her master’s degree in Constitutional Law at Çankaya University, Department of Public Law. Until 2011, she worked as an ODY-ÜDY Instructor at Vocational Training Centers affiliated with the Ministry of Transport. For approximately 15 years, she has been working as a legal expert at the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB). Initially, she was involved in Foreign Trade and International Logistics at TOBB and represented the United Nations for nearly seven years. She is currently serving as a legal expert in the SME Policies Directorate within the TOBB Department of Real Sector R&D and Implementation.
Meanwhile, she is working on completing her doctoral dissertation in Administrative Law at Gazi University, Department of Public Law-Administrative Law. After completing her thesis on TOBB, which is recognized by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) in Turkey, she plans to publish it as a book.
Additionally, since 2023, she has been writing columns in the London section of “DÜNDAR HUKUK” and “DÜNDAR LEGAL SERVICE CONSULTANCY,” which have established themselves internationally, particularly in the field of energy and renewable energy.