President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in December 2023 that Brazil -- the world's eighth-largest oil producer -- would participate in OPEC+ without giving details on how it would do so.

OPEC+ is made up of the 12 main OPEC members plus ten other top crude oil producers, all of whom cooperate to regulate production and pricing.

Brazil will take on an advisory role in the Charter of Cooperation (COC) between oil-producing countries, with no commitment to production cuts or price regulation.

The charter "consists of a forum for discussion on issues related to the energy transition and technological advances," an energy ministry official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

As a member of the charter, Brazil "can promote discussions on the use of clean and alternative technologies for the financing of decarbonization projects," the ministry said in a statement.

Environmental groups slammed the move by a country that will in November host COP30 UN climate talks in the Amazon city of Belem.

This announcement is "a new nail in the coffin of the energy transition in Brazil," the Climate Observatory NGO said in a statement.

Lula aspires to make Brazil a leader in the fight against global warming, but has fiercely defended oil exploration as key to the growth of Latin America's biggest economy.

He has come under fire from environmental groups as he pushes for a major oil project to go ahead at the mouth of the Amazon River.

In recent years, Brazil has been hit hard by extreme weather events, from floods to droughts and fires, linked by many experts to global warming.

The country is currently grappling with a heatwave that has sent temperatures soaring in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

"Continuing to open new areas for the exploitation of fossil fuels amid the heat and the increase in extreme events across the planet indicates denialism," said Suely Araujo, from the Climate Observatory.

Brazil also announced it was joining the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).