Ensuring a Sustainable Energy Transition in Brazil and South America

About this grant

Brazil’s fast-moving energy transition is creating urgent needs for greater transparency, accountability and protection of communities as large-scale renewable infrastructure and mineral projects expand without adequate oversight. The BRICS Policy Center, a leading research institute at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, has deep expertise in development finance, national investment platforms and the geopolitical drivers of the transition. With prior Mott Foundation funding, the grantee documented Chinese investments in clean energy transition and their impacts on vulnerable communities in the Pan-Amazon region (Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia) while promoting the adoption of socially and environmentally responsible loan criteria within international financial institutions. With this grant, the BRICS Policy Center will: 1) strengthen public scrutiny of Brazil’s climate finance architecture; 2) improve oversight of the Brazil Climate Investment Platform; 3) expand analysis of China’s role in transition finance; and 4) build civil society capacity to ensure the energy transition upholds community rights and protects the environment.