Brazil’s oil gamble: Can Lula save the Amazon while drilling deeper? | COP30’s biggest test

Brazil stands at a crossroads between profit and preservation. Even as it slashed deforestation by a third, fires consumed twice as much primary rainforest this year. Now, Lula’s government faces global scrutiny for expanding offshore oil drilling near the Amazon — just as Brazil prepares to host COP30. Can the nation that brands itself a climate leader resist the lure of oil wealth? Or will Brazil’s green promise drown beneath black gold? This is the high-stakes dilemma shaking the world’s largest rainforest — and the credibility of global climate diplomacy.