Without belittling the urgency of fighting climate change or transitioning to renewables, but to illustrate the perspective of Brazil’s organized working class on this issue, I interviewed Deyvid Bacelar, President of Brazil’s Unified Federation of Petroleum Workers (Federação Única dos Petroleiros, or FUP). Founded in 1994, the FUP is a federation of 14 labor unions that represents 180,000 workers at Petrobras, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company.

The new offshore drilling license for the Brazilian Equatorial Margin is drawing international criticism in the lead-up to COP 30. What benefits will it bring to Brazil, especially its working class?

Deyvid Bacelar: We are talking about the Equatorial Margin, which stretches from Amapá to Rio Grande do Norte. This is an area of oil reserves that encompasses two major Brazilian regions—the North and the Northeast. These regions have the worst human development indices in Brazil and have always been overlooked in terms of development, especially industrial development.

The exploration and production of oil and gas in the Brazilian Equatorial Margin will allow these regions to achieve not only industrial and economic development but also social and sustainable development. The FUP advocates that this extraordinary revenue from oil activity be used in a differentiated manner. This is particularly important because the auctions for this area were held under a concession regime, unlike the production-sharing regime used for the pre-salt area. Under the proposed framework, a large portion of this this strategic reserve will remain with the Union. Half of the royalties would go to Brazil’s social fund, which allocates 75% to public education and 25% to public health.

We need specific legislation for the Equatorial Margin, approved by the Brazilian National Congress, to ensure this wealth truly drives economic, social, and sustainable development. This includes protecting the Amazon rainforest, the Atlantic raiforest, and the Caatinga biome, and supporting socio-environmental projects developed in full dialogue with indigenous, quilombola, and riverside communities, forest peoples in general, and workers. Without this approach, we will not see the full and correct use of this wealth in the north and northeast of the country. This is why we support two major bills, one in the Chamber of Deputies and another in the Federal Senate, that provide differentiated treatment for the Equatorial Margin.

I must clarify that the recently licensed pioneer well is solely for identifying whether oil is present. It will not produce oil. If the area is approved for commercial drilling, production platforms have to be ordered and built, hopefully in Brazil. This will generate domestic employment and income. But they will only start operating in five or six years. This gives us time to establish a differentiated framework for the wealth generated by the Brazilian Equatorial Margin.

How would you, as a leader of the FUP, respond to environmentalist critics who say that drilling should not happen because Brazil should make an immediate transition to renewable energy?

First, we must engage in dialogue. We have already spoken with several environmental NGOs, and a few of them have met with the FUP. Our response is that Brazil is already light-years ahead of nearly every country in its use of renewable energy. Fifty percent of our energy matrix comes from renewable sources, making it cleaner than that of many countries. Our electrical matrix is already 90% renewable [primarily hydroelectric], which sets us apart from the rest of the world. Brazil has been fulfilling its role well in promoting the energy transition.

In fact, the main culprit for greenhouse gas emissions in Brazil is not industrial or oil activity. Unfortunately, it is agribusiness, through the misuse of land, including slash-and-burn practices. This segment accounts for 76% of our greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, if we want to seriously and correctly confront climate change in Brazil, we must target the group that pollutes and emits the most.

Second, it is inadmissible for the Global North to set rules for the Global South. The Global North, which has already destroyed its forests and is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is in no position to make demands on Brazil, which has been fulfilling its role in the energy transition, by saying we cannot explore our oil reserves. We will never agree with that. And it will definitely not be some NGOs—without generalizing—funded by the Global North and international oil companies that set the rules for the Brazilian people.

We need to guarantee our energy sovereignty. If Brazil does not bring new reserves into production by 2030, our country, which is currently self-sufficient in oil, will become dependent on other oil-producing nations. We would have to import oil from the United States of North America, the United Arab Emirates, or other gulf states. If we do not explore this reserve in the differentiated way we propose, we will see a major drop in production from the Brazilian pre-salt area—which accounts for 78% of our total output today—starting in 2036. Brazil would then be forced to import dirtier oil, with a much worse carbon footprint than our own and at a higher cost. We already face issues of energy poverty; if we fail to guarantee our energy sovereignty, the Brazilian people will become even more energy-insecure, especially in the north and northeast.

These two arguments are central to our dialogue with environmental NGOs. Furthermore, some of them agree that it is far better for Petrobras, a public company controlled by the Brazilian state, to conduct oil exploration and production in the Equatorial Margin than international oil companies. Many already agree with us. Why? Because Petrobras exercises much greater control and has not had any environmental accidents in the last 25 years. This stands in contrast to international oil companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico, the Persian Gulf, and the Middle East. Petrobras has been operating in the heart of the Amazon jungle, in Urucu, for over 35 years without a single environmental accident. This proves that Petrobras has the competence, as a Brazilian company controlled by its people, to promote energy sovereignty while protecting the environment, caring for forest peoples and workers, and engaging with surrounding communities.

As we have said, we need differentiated treatment for the Equatorial Margin, and this requires legislation that the FUP is supporting in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate.

This first appeared on De-Linking Brazil.