Brazil, one of the world's top 10 producers, which hit a record 3.7 million barrels per day in September, was this week invited to join the 23-member grouping from January.
"I think it's important for us to participate in OPEC+, because we need to convince the countries that produce oil that they need to prepare to reduce fossil fuels," Lula said in Dubai.
"And preparing means taking advantage of the money they make from oil and making investments, so that a large continent like Latin America can produce the renewable fuels they need."
The 13-member OPEC headed by Saudi Arabia and its 10 OPEC+ partners led by Russia announced fresh production cuts on Thursday to boost prices.
Lula has a strong environmental record after largely delivering on his promise to curb the destruction of the crucial Amazon rainforest.
"Everyone freaked out at the possibility of Brazil joining in OPEC," he said in a meeting with civil society members at the UN climate talks.
"Brazil will not join OPEC, Brazil will join OPEC+. That name is so fancy," said Lula, according to a transcript of the meeting sent by the COP presidency.
The energy transition, and language over phasing "out" or phasing "down" fossil fuels, are key battlegrounds at COP28 in the oil-rich UAE where negotiators will try to agree ways to tackle the climate crisis.
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