The climate turn in the recent geopolitics: the Brazilian case

Keywords: international trade, environmental policy, Latin America, climate politics
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 05:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 06:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 68

Abstract

In recent years, climate change became a geopolitical issue, as countries realized the impacts and urgency of the problem. The consequences of increasing temperatures include droughts and displacement of people, while the most affected economic sectors are agriculture and insurance. In the political context, Europe and the US (with president Biden) made the climate change a structural topic for their economy and diplomatic relations. In contrast, Brazil (with president Bolsonaro) downplayed this topic, by reducing their diplomatic presence in the international debate and boycotting environmental policies in a country previously seen as a leader in this debate. Therefore, Brazil is an ideal place to scrutinize the aspects of climate geopolitics, from international to subnational levels (and the subaltern relations of power), partly due to its extension and international relevancy to both agriculture and conservation. This paper focus on two international negotiations (Paris Climate Accords and EU-Mercosur trade agreement) and its implications to the Brazilian environmental policies and agricultural exports. I present how the effectiveness of multilateral agreements are affected by the set of national goals that change according to the economic political context. Despite the limitations of a state-centered approach, NGOs and corporations are relevant actors shaping international responses to environmental issues (e.g., biodiversity and impacts of deforestation on trade), mostly with market-based solutions. This paper investigates the synergies of international trade and environmental policy agendas, such as agri-environmental risks, green politics and governance.