New FGV Research Center to Support the Creation of Brazil’s National Energy Transition Plan
“A national policy born alongside FGV Clima,” said Thiago Barral, Secretary of Energy Transition and Planning at the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), referring to the National Energy Transition Plan (PLANTE) during the launch event of the new applied research center at the São Paulo School of Economics of Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV EESP). The event, held on September 2, brought together representatives from the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MMA), MME, and the Climate and Society Institute (iCS) to discuss the climate crisis.
In one of its first projects, FGV Clima will produce technical assessments to consolidate scientific knowledge on five key sectors of the energy transition, aiming to support the design of the MME’s strategic action plan. During the event’s opening, Amanda Schutze, Executive Coordinator and Co-founder of FGV Clima, explained that the center’s mission is to strengthen Brazil’s climate action and promote the country’s socioeconomic development in a fair and sustainable way.
“We will focus on knowledge production and dissemination, using theoretical and empirical tools from economics to generate technical knowledge and share it through engagement with society—policymakers, the private sector, civil society, and the media. It’s crucial that we communicate this information clearly and accessibly to strengthen evidence-based climate action in Brazil,” Schutze said.
Clarissa Gandour, Scientific Coordinator and Co-founder of FGV Clima, added that to fulfill its mission of strengthening climate action in Brazil, the center will conduct research on Climate Economics and position economic science in service of climate action.
“In the face of challenges brought by climate change—such as shifts in productivity, regulatory changes, and food insecurity—economics provides tools to guide and inform decision-making,” Gandour stated, citing William Nordhaus, Nobel Prize winner in Economics in 2018, who described the climate crisis as the ultimate challenge for economics.
Contributions to the Energy Transition Plan
FGV Clima’s first projects were launched with funding from the Climate and Society Institute (iCS) and through a strategic partnership with the MME. The center will act as a strategic partner in two areas: providing technical support and designing a communication and engagement strategy to ensure a just and inclusive transition. Researchers will conduct studies to develop an energy transition assessment across different sectors: electricity, transportation, industry, oil and gas, and mining.
This sectoral approach will consider three thematic pillars: Legal and Regulatory; Economic and Financial; and Social. During the FGV Clima launch event, Secretary Thiago Barral emphasized the growing importance of climate change not only in public policy formulation but also in the broader logic of social and economic development and infrastructure.
“There is no path other than reducing carbon emissions. What was once a matter of international cooperation, symbolized by the Paris Agreement, is now also a competitive process in which countries position themselves in the new economy and value chains, considering changes in global market dynamics and the acceleration of technological innovation,” said Barral.
He stressed the need to understand how these processes can translate into returns for the country with positive climate outcomes:
“The restructuring of the government, in which various plans and policies involve energy transition, already shows that energy policy must be prepared to align with the country’s social and economic development policy. Climate Economics is a key tool to bring coherence to the integration of different sectoral policies, which must be grounded in a unified set of actions. Fundação Getulio Vargas, through FGV Clima, will support the design of the architecture of the National Energy Transition Plan, aiming to incorporate scientific concepts into the tools being developed by the federal government,” he said.
Strategies for the Climate Plan and Socioeconomic Development Opportunities
During the discussion, Ana Toni, National Secretary for Climate Change at the MMA, emphasized that climate change is fundamentally a socioeconomic development issue. According to her, it is impossible to talk about the environment without addressing the economy, and this perspective reflects the joint action of the MMA with the MME, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Transport.
“We are developing the Climate Plan in an interministerial format with the participation of 23 ministries to address both climate extremes mitigation and climate adaptation,” said Toni, noting that Brazil lags behind countries like China, the U.S., and Germany, which are already investing not only in tackling the climate crisis but also in generating socioeconomic development.
“How do we turn this crisis into an economic opportunity? If we had had a center like FGV Clima a few years ago, we could have developed more robust plans that considered not only decarbonization but also economic mechanisms, carbon markets, taxonomy, sovereign funds, the Climate Fund, Ecoinvest, and many other tools that were not previously part of the government’s toolkit but can now be researched and tested by the academic sector,” Toni stated.
Representing iCS, Climate Policy Manager Walter de Simoni also advocated for addressing the climate crisis through a cross-cutting approach:
“We’re not just talking about an environmental perspective. Climate has moved beyond a niche issue—ten years ago, we had to fight to get people to understand that climate was a topic worth discussing. Today, the climate crisis is part of people’s daily lives. Who hasn’t noticed the increase in climate disasters? Who hasn’t noticed the more frequent heatwaves? We’ve moved beyond theory, and now we must implement actions to combat the climate crisis,” said Simoni.
Scientific Research to Generate Societal Impact
For Lilian Furquim, Director of the São Paulo School of Economics (FGV EESP), climate change represents a complex problem with no easy solution. However, she emphasizes that FGV Clima, by positioning economic science to measure the impacts caused by the climate crisis, can contribute meaningfully to the public debate on climate action.
“There is already a great deal of academic output on this topic, but it was necessary to highlight and organize an initiative that brings the responses of economic science based on evidence and with its own tools. Measuring impacts, analyzing magnitudes, and going beyond correlations to understand causality—this is the main role of FGV Clima,” stated the FGV EESP Director.
In light of Fundação Getulio Vargas’s mission to contribute to Brazil’s socioeconomic development, Goret Paulo, FGV’s Director of Research and Innovation, believes that it is impossible to talk about development without addressing the environment and sustainability.
During the event’s opening, Goret introduced the concept of Integrated Sustainable Development, which encompasses not only socioeconomic development but also socio-environmental progress:
“The simplest economic concept of productivity must be discussed through the lens of sustainability. That’s why we aim to generate more and more research with a positive impact on society, especially on issues that are urgent for the population, such as climate change, health and well-being, quality education, gender inequality, decent work and economic growth, reducing inequalities, sustainable cities and communities, as well as peace, justice, and strong institutions,” Goret said, presenting FGV’s contribution to implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
To watch the full FGV Clima launch event, click [here].