14 Nov 2025
An oil-slicked road to climate disaster
One of the great ironies of global meetings to stop a climate disaster is that they are being held in oil-producing countries. Brazil is hosting latest United Nations Climate Change Conference [COP30.] The country’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, told world leaders at the opening, “Earth can no longer sustain the development model based on the intensive use of fossil fuels.” However, Brazil is a major oil producer and has recently issued permits for companies to do exploratory drilling in what looks like a major oilfield under the Atlantic Ocean off the country’s coast. Last year COP29 was held in the fossil fuel producing country of Azerbaijan where the nation’s president, Ilham Aliyev, praised oil and gas, calling them a “gift of God” and defending his country’s use of them. In 2023, the COP was in the United Arab Emirates, another major oil producer. It helps explain why fossil fuel production keeps rising and greenhouse gas emissions are forecast to reach record levels this year. This goes completely against scientific advice that we need to rapidly reduce burning fossil fuels if we are going to prevent a climate meltdown. It is clear that fossil fuels are the junk food of politics. They bring rapid gratification but the negative side effects keep increasing.