Ana Toni is Brazil\u2019s national secretary for climate change at the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change and the executive director of the U.N. climate summit set to take place in the Amazonian city of Bel\u00e9m in November. She acknowledged Brazil\u2019s own contradictions as the country pursues new oil projects but said countries such as France, the United States, Norway and Canada should bear the greater burden for phasing out fossil fuels.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe [in Brazil] have our contradictions; that\u2019s not an excuse and we must face them,\u201d Toni said in a video interview at the conference of the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism in S\u00e3o Paulo on July 11. \u201cBut if we are transitioning away from fossil fuels, which countries should start first? Should it be Brazil, Guinea-Bissau and Nigeria? Or Canada, the United States and Norway?\u201d<\/p>\n
Toni\u2019s comments came amid expansion of Brazilian infrastructure projects and new fossil fuel exploration in the run-up to hosting COP30.<\/p>\n
The new oil projects include approval for oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon River<\/a>, an area that partly overlaps the 9,500-square-kilometer (3,700-square-mile) Amazon Reef<\/a>. The government also approved an auction for an oil block surrounding an Indigenous community<\/a> near Brazil\u2019s north coast.<\/p>\n According to Oil Change International<\/a>, just four countries \u2014 the United States, Canada, Australia and Norway \u2014 account for 70% of planned fossil fuel expansion over the next decade. \u201cBrazil is probably sixth or seventh. It\u2019s important, and let\u2019s talk about Brazil, but let\u2019s also contextualize,\u201d Toni said.<\/p>\n Toni added that burden is often disproportionately on oil producing countries, rather than on the oil consuming countries, which should also be held responsible. Despite not producing any oil, for example, 75% of Germany\u2019s energy matrix came from fossil fuels in 2023.<\/a> \u201cShould it only be the producers at the table, or do consumers join too?\u201d she questioned. \u201cWhat is the cost of excluding them?\u201d<\/p>\n