OPINION: The return to power of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for a third term could mark a new era for the country’s energy sector, although the new administration has yet to make it clear how far it will commit Brazil and its state-controlled oil and gas giant Petrobras to decarbonisation.

In the months before his election last October, the leftist leader spent most of his campaign trading insults with right-wing incumbent Jair Bolsonaro and little was known about Lula’s intentions for the economy, let alone energy.