Amid COP28, Brazil considers invitation to OPEC+

While the COP28, the UN climate summit, discusses the end of fossil fuel use, the Lula government signals its intention to accept an invitation for Brazil to join OPEC+, which gathers members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied producers. "We hope to join this distinguished group and work with all 23 countries in the coming months and years," said the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, on the first day of COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Experts criticize Brazil's intention to join the cartel, pointing out a contradiction with Lula's discourse of positioning the country as an environmental power. "Any global climate leadership needs to have a strong and firm stance on the elimination of fossil fuels," says Stela Herschmann of the Climate Observatory. To curb global warming to 1.5C, the International Energy Agency states that new oil and gas projects should not proceed.