In recent years, a region known as the "equatorial margin" has been making headlines. This is the technical term for the northern portion of Brazil’s coastline, stretching from Rio Grande do Norte in the Northeast to Amapá in the North, passing through areas considered highly sensitive to environmental balance, such as the mouth of the Amazon River—where the world’s largest river meets the sea.
This entire region has gained attention because, in 2015, Guyana and Suriname, Brazil’s northern neighbors, discovered large oil reserves, leading Venezuela to dispute part of Guyana’s territory.
It is estimated that, together, Suriname and Guyana have access to 15 billion barrels of oil—equivalent to all the reserves discovered in Brazil so far, where oil is extracted along nearly the entire coastline, from the South to the Northeast. Now, Brazil also wants to explore the equatorial margin. But it’s not that simple.
Instead of beaches, this coastline is dominated by massive mangrove forests—an ecosystem that serves as a transition between land and sea biomes, featuring trees with sprawling roots that intertwine with each other. This dense network absorbs tidal variations, preventing seawater from flooding inland. It also provides a habitat for countless species, both in and out of the water.
What environmentalists fear most is the risk of an oil spill—an all-too-common occurrence in oil extraction.
If left unchecked, an oil spill could spread through an extremely fragile ecosystem. In this case, the consequences could be far worse than in any other region where oil is already being extracted. Another key issue is the global context: the world is currently striving for an energy transition, shifting toward renewable and sustainable sources to replace fossil fuels.
However, many countries, including Brazil, still rely on oil revenue—even to help fund that energy transition.
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