00:00And we stay in Brazil. Less than a month before the start of the COP30 in Belém, Brazil,
00:05environmentalist Global North-funded non-governmental organizations reject Petrobras license to drill offshore.
00:13More information with our correspondent Brian Mir.
00:18Less than a month before the start of COP30 in Belém, the Brazilian government has drawn the ire of environmentalists and NGOs
00:26with the announcement of a new license for Petrobras, the state-controlled petroleum company,
00:32to perform offshore drilling tests near the border with French Guiana, 540 kilometers from the mouth of the Amazon River.
00:43The decision made by the workers in our ministry was technical.
00:47Any political pressure that may have existed had no influence on the process or the quality of the work
00:54done by our scientists and engineers.
00:57It is clear that we operate within a political context, and it is legitimate for people to have their own goals.
01:04However, in a Republican government like that of President Lula, decisions are made on a technical basis.
01:13Brazil's largest culprit in greenhouse gas emissions is Amazon deforestation, which fell by 88% last year.
01:2090% of its electrical grid is powered by renewables.
01:24All new auto factories installed since Lula took office are for electric vehicles.
01:29And unlike private petroleum companies, 50% of Petrobras royalties are earmarked for public education and health.
01:36Consequently, many see hypocrisy in criticism from the more polluting Global North.
01:41It is unacceptable that the Global North would try to make rules for the Global South.
01:49Is the Global North, which destroyed all of its forests,
01:54that emits the most greenhouse gases, going to make demands on Brazil,
01:59which has been performing its role in energy transformation,
02:04saying that Brazil cannot exploit any more petroleum reserves?
02:09We will never agree to this.
02:13Regardless of whether Brazil decides to eventually authorize commercial drilling near the border with the Guianas,
02:19the government is investing 2 trillion reais in transition to renewable energy.
02:24Brian Mir, Telesur, Recife.
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