Amazon Rainforest's Rush for Fossil Fuels
The Amazon rainforest, a vital ecosystem and the world's largest tropical forest, is under threat due to the escalating call for a ban on fossil fuel drilling. This concern stems from the link between climate change and a record drought, which is causing devastating effects on the region.
The story encompasses various regions, including the global stage and South America. In countries such as Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador, oil spills from aged and deteriorated pipelines have been a longstanding issue. These spills have contaminated water resources, harmed ecosystems, and led to health issues due to toxic chemicals.
In a 2020 report, international NGO Oxfam documented 474 oil spills in the Peruvian Amazon between 2000 and 2019. Similarly, a 2024 report from environmental advocacy group Stand.earth and the Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) identified over 4,600 oil spills and contamination in Ecuador between 2006 and 2022.
The Amazon's fossil fuel reserves are not only a concern for Brazil but also for other Amazonas countries. Brazil's largest inland fossil fuel fields lie deep in the Amazon forest and have been active since the 1980s. However, its offshore Amazon reserves remain untapped. On the other hand, countries like Bolivia have significant reserves of natural gas and oil, which are exploited with exports mainly to Brazil and Argentina, with Bolivia's state company YPFB controlling this energy sector.
The five top financiers of Amazon oil and gas drilling are Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, Itaú Unibanco, Santander, and Bank of America, collectively investing more than US$20 billion in oil and gas projects in the Amazon in the last 20 years, accounting for 47% of the total amount detected by the report.
The discussion about fossil fuel drilling in the Amazon extends to various topics such as biodiversity, fossil fuels, gas, infrastructure, natural resources, oil, rivers, roads, water security, conservation, extreme weather, global warming, heatwaves, and Carbon & Climate, Energy, Policy & Finance, and Water.
The debate is not limited to Brazil. In Brazil, oil and natural gas accounted for 16% of exports in 2023, second only to soybeans. However, the extraction of these resources has sparked controversy, particularly in the Equatorial Margin region, off the northeast coast of Brazil, where environmentalists oppose drilling by Petrobras, a state-controlled oil energy company.
The Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is pushing for the government's environment agency Ibama to drop its objections to Petrobras drilling in the Equatorial Margin region. Meanwhile, the discussion in Brazil's Congress and Supreme Court revolves around an agreement that could open up Indigenous lands for fossil fuel drilling and mining, going against the will of the Indigenous movement.
For most Amazon countries, oil and gas are a crucial part of their exports, with Guyana and Venezuela exporting 77% and 61% of their goods respectively, according to 2023 data.
Those interested in learning more about this issue can visit the Thomson Reuters Foundation at https://www.context.news/ for further content.
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