Who Drives Climate-relevant Policies in Brazil?

Abstract

In this report, the central question of our research is who drives/obstructs climate-relevant policies in Brazil, paying special attention to renewable energy policies, climate policies and politics. We aim to identify the actors (in government, the private sector and civil society) who drive, or obstruct, efforts to reduce the carbon intensity of Brazil’s energy mix. The hypothesis here is that the actors who drive climate policies in Brazil are not specifically concerned with global climate change itself, but with economic, social or even political issues, such as energy security, job creation, competitiveness, promoting national industries, and gaining political power domestically or internationally. In that sense, climate change mitigation can be regarded as a co-benefit of other policies (energy policies included) that may have very different objectives. To answer the above-mentioned question, this research assesses renewable energy policies in Brazil, identifying key actors from government, business and civil society and their explicit, or implicit, motivations.