Columbia Energy Exchange

In Brazil, the energy transition is pushed and prodded by conflicting forces.  Its government is taking significant steps to cut emissions. For example, in August, it passed a much-anticipated low-carbon hydrogen framework; and in November, a law to create a regulated carbon market. And since taking office in 2023, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has spearheaded significant reductions in deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.  But Brazil is also Latin America’s biggest producer of oil, and it has been ramping up its output.  In light of Brazil’s strategic role in climate – it currently holds the presidency of the G-8, and in 2025 it will host COP30 – we’re rerunning an episode from February digging into Brazil’s energy transition.  How is the energy transition in Brazil unfolding amid these conflicting pressures? And how can the country balance environmental protection and energy security?  Bill Loveless talks with Thiago Barral about how Brazil plans to build up clean energy technologies, and how geopol