Petrobras CEO Magda Chambriand says Brazil must decide between phasing out fossil fuels and protecting tax revenue from the sector, warning that giving up oil would mean losing 277 billion reais in last year’s taxes. Environmental groups criticized the stance
SAO PAULO — Brazil’s climate debate tightened this week around a single question: what does the country do when its biggest oil company says phasing out fossil fuels would wipe out tax revenue?
Magda Chambriand. the head of Petrobras. told an event hosted by the Industry Federation of the State of Rio de Janeiro that Brazil cannot talk about climate goals without accounting for the economic future. She argued that moving away from oil would come with a concrete financial cost — tax dollars the government relies on.
Chambriand said phasing out oil would mean “giving up 277 billion reais ($53.2 billion) in tax revenues, because that’s what we paid last year.” She spoke Tuesday, describing Brazil’s climate strategy as something that has to fit “society,” not just slogans.
“There is no Climate Plan without society, right? So it’s very easy to say, ‘Look, shut everything down, let’s all go to the jungle and we’ll have wonderful air,’” she said.
Her comments land in a country that has repeatedly signaled support for transitioning away from fossil fuels. Brazil backed the need for a shift at the recent U.N. climate summit. which it hosted last year. and in other discussions. including an April meeting in Colombia focused on moving away from fossil fuels.
At the same time, Brazil is expanding drilling investments, including work in a sensitive area near the mouth of the Amazon River off the coast of Amapa, one of Brazil’s poorest states. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has defended the new investment plans as essential for economic development.
Chambriand’s message places those contradictions front and center: preserve climate commitments, or protect the revenue tied to the industry that produces them.
Suely Araújo, of the network of environmental organizations Climate Observatory, challenged that framing on Wednesday. She said Chambriand’s remarks ignore how fossil fuels drive global warming and criticized the federal climate plan as already not ambitious enough regarding the energy sector.
“The Climate Plan drawn up by the federal government. which is already not as ambitious as it should be regarding energy-sector actions. is treated by Magda Chambriard as an obstacle to the country’s future. ” Araújo said. “Amid a climate crisis. hearing this from the head of Brazil’s largest company is at once shocking. regrettable and disheartening.”.
Chambriand’s statements were reported by the local newspaper Folha de S.Paulo. Petrobras did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Taken together, the exchange captures the pressure building inside Brazil’s climate promises. It’s not just about whether the country wants to move away from fossil fuels — it’s about whether it can do so without disrupting tax revenue. jobs. and the economic development that the government says it needs.
Petrobras Magda Chambriand Brazil climate policy fossil fuel phaseout tax revenues Lula da Silva Amazon drilling Amapa Climate Observatory