SAO PAULO — Brazil's government approved on Monday exploratory drilling by state-run oil-giant Petrobras near the mouth of the Amazon River. The decision comes only weeks before the United Nations climate conference in Belem, COP30, where efforts to reduce the use of fossil fuels will be discussed.

The Equatorial Margin deposit off the coast of Brazil, which stretches from Brazil’s border with Suriname to a part of the country’s Northeast region, is believed to be rich in oil and gas.

The biodiverse area is home to little-studied mangroves and a coral reef, and activists and experts have said the project risks leaks that could be carried widely by tides and imperil the sensitive environment. Petrobras has long argued it has never caused spills in its drillings.

Petrobras said in a state

See Full Page