Brazil in OPEC+ in the midst of COP28 was a blessing, says Silveira – 12/15/2023 – Environment

“It made me happy”, says the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, about the decision at COP28, the UN climate conference, to make a transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. For him, however, the transition defined at the summit in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), which ended on Wednesday (13), will be slow if developed countries do not take the lead.

Meanwhile, he is betting on expanding oil and gas exploration in the country. He is also studying the possibility of bringing gas from Argentina and the United States.

Although fossil fuel increases Brazil’s greenhouse gas emissions, making compliance with the commitments established in the Paris Agreement more challenging, Silveira presents another priority: increasing the competitiveness of the industry, with cheaper fuel.

After attracting international attention and criticism at the start of COP28 by announcing Brazil’s accession to OPEC+ (an expanded group of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries), Silveira maintains that the timing was appropriate. “It was a blessing”, he says in this interview with Sheet.

Developed countries, mainly Europeans, “wanted to put Brazil in an environmental straitjacket”, says Silveira, in an interview given at the headquarters of the São Paulo stock exchange this Friday (15), at the end of the Aneel transmission line auction, which foresees investments of R$21.7 billion.

What do you mr. What do you think of COP28’s final decision to transition away from fossil fuels?

It made me happy. I even expected it to be more controversial, exactly because of the place where the COP took place, exactly in a country whose economy is vigorously dependent on oil and gas. But I thought it was extremely consistent with the moment the world is going through, where climate phenomena scare us all.

We all in Brazil know that sustainability is a fundamental pillar in international public policies and planetary public policy. What we defend, repeatedly and vigorously, is that the energy transition is also a great opportunity to achieve justice between the countries of the Global South and the industrialized countries. We want to take industrialized countries out of comfort, or even apathy, with the issue.

Next year we will have the opportunity with the G20, and I in particular chairing the energy theme, to have a debate around the fair and inclusive energy transition.

Throughout COP28, the Brazilian delegation began to state more clearly a position in favor of the gradual elimination of fossil fuels, while the Ministry of Mines and Energy also announced that it will form a working group on the energy transition next year. Did the pressure from the COP guide the Brazilian position?

I believe it was consolidating a position that is already the government’s position. We arrived at the COP with all the controversy surrounding Brazil’s entry into OPEC+, and that was a great opportunity for Brazil not to participate in something that was the desire of some developed countries, especially European countries. They wanted to put Brazil in an environmental straitjacket.

We cannot participate in this straitjacket. Brazil still needs to explore, in an adequate and balanced way, oil and critical minerals, especially because the energy transition will require minerals such as lithium and cobalt.

Were the announcement about OPEC+ and the visit to Saudi Arabia on the eve of the COP a provocation? Was it on purpose?

No. It was another blessing that the invitation happened to us at that moment and President Lula expressed his support, especially because he understands that our participation in the international geopolitical discussion and in the Arab world is also important.

But Mr. Do you think the timing was right?

It was exactly appropriate. I was heavily criticized at that first moment for being at an environmental forum discussing Brazil’s participation in a platform of oil exporting countries. But that was very important for Brazil at that moment, because it showed that Brazil has the strength to discuss its energy matrix with pride.

Brazil wants to be respected, along with the countries of the Global South, by industrialized countries, so that we can transform the energy transition opportunity into a great economic source of combating inequality.

France does not have oil, so it can make a politically correct speech in its view against oil, but it explores oil all over the world, including in Brazil, and often wants to put pressure on Brazil and put pressure on countries in the Global South, putting up barriers, as we are having difficulty with now, in the relationship between Mercosur and the European Union.

In Congress, the PL is being processed [projeto de lei] offshore wind farms, which also began to provide incentives for coal. Is there a risk that the fossil fuel lobby will sabotage energy transition projects?

The government will be rigorous in defending Brazil’s energy consumers. We will be on the consumer side. Because energy is a source of generation and development.

Gas is considered a “transition fuel” for countries that depend on oil and coal, which is not the case in Brazil. Why does Brazil plan to expand its gas supply by more than 30% this decade?

No one in the world can say how long the transition will take, definitively. As long as rich and industrialized countries do not stop rhetoric and discourse and do not monetize clean and renewable energy sources, we will have a slow transition.

Is Brazil waiting for a signal from developed countries? What homework will the country do to plan the transition here?

We already do the Brazilian one. In fact, next Tuesday (19), the CNPE [Conselho Nacional de Política Energética] will approve the working group for the implementation of national energy transition policies that will be sent to Congress.

This year we contracted R$40 billion in transmission lines, in a country that already has 186 thousand km of transmission lines. For what? To generate clean and renewable energy in the Northeast, to export sustainability.

I prefer to believe that Brazil will be able to attract international industries so that this sustainability is exported through manufactured products, that is, that our local content is respected and more vigorous, and not that we export water and energy to other countries.

I really believe in the production of nitrogen, since we are food stores and, for that, we need gas. I think the gas policy is correct, we have to produce gas. I fight for us to have more gas, as 33% of the national chemical industry is idle due to lack of competitive energy.

We should even discuss the possibility of increasing studies of Argentine gas and American gas, which is gas explored on land. We have to see if it is environmentally possible to exploit this gas. It is a great energy source that Brazil cannot do without yet.

Mr. defends new investments in oil and gas and points out costs for renewables. What is your definition of energy transition?

That of COP28. The COP produced a document in which it said that there must be planning so that we can move away from fossil fuels and have clean and renewable energy. This is the definition I defend. May we have a real, concrete, fair horizon, so that we can evaluate the best strategy for the national energy transition.

Did the COP decision guide the government?

Yes. COP guides the planet. Now, Brazil is already making its gestures, more than that, Brazil is already paying for this transition. Now we want gestures from countries that have an average salary of US$2,500, US$3,000, as is the case in Europe and the United States.

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Alexandre Silveira, 53

Born in Belo Horizonte, he has a degree in law and is a retired police officer. A former federal deputy for two terms (for the PPS and, later, for the PSD), in 2022 he assumed the seat in the Senate left by Antonio Anastasia (PSD), for whom he was a substitute. In Minas Gerais, he was Secretary of Metropolitan and Health Management. In January, he took charge of the Ministry of Mines and Energy.