Concluding a series of five case studies analysing climate adaptation policies and the state of the just transition in Latin America, the Interdisciplinary Observatory on Climate Change is launching the 29th volume of Cadernos do OIMC. For this edition, Observatory researcher Maria Isabel Santos Lima (IESP-UERJ) has penned the article Climate Adaptation in Brazil: An analysis of the Climate Adaptation Plan (2024–2035).
Read an extract from this volume:
With this in mind, this policy paper not only analyses the history of climate adaptation measures but also presents a case study of the National Adaptation Strategy and the Thematic and Sectoral Plans, developed within the context of the Climate Plan (2024–2035). To this end, the following research question was used: what are the main advances and gaps in Brazil’s adaptation agenda? The overall objective of the research is, therefore, to provide an overview of the proposals and actions adopted to date within the adaptation agenda, particularly at national level. To this end, this exploratory study adopted a qualitative approach, utilising a documentary analysis of public policies to examine various government documents published by the different ministries comprising the Climate Adaptation Plan, as well as previous national initiatives, such as legislation, national plans, etc. In addition to primary data, government reports, documents produced by third-sector organisations and relevant literature were utilised to provide context for the research.
With a PhD in Political Science from the Institute of Social and Political Studies (IESP-UERJ), including a sandwich period at Brown University (USA), and a Master’s degree in Political Science from the Centre for Legal and Political Sciences at the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (CCJP-UNIRIO), Maria Isabel Santos Lima is an associate researcher at OIMC and the Laboratory for Global Political Analysis (LABMUNDO). She is co-author of the article ‘Climate obstruction in the United States and Brazil: a comparative analysis of discourses by foreign policy authorities of the Trump and Bolsonaro administrations’ (with Diogo Ives; Climate and Development v. 1, 2025) and is the author of Cadernos do OIMC vol. 13, entitled US Interests in the Amazon: Mapping the Administrations of Donald Trump (2017–2020) and Joe Biden (2021–2024).
The five articles published in the most recent issues of Cadernos do OIMC analyse the history of climate adaptation policies in the national contexts of Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Argentina and, finally, Brazil. Produced as part of the project South-South Relations and COP30: Adaptation and Just Transition, developed with the support of the Climate and Society Institute (iCS), these studies will form the focus of the panel Climate Adaptation Policies, presented by the Observatory next Friday, 6 November, as part of the programme for the 1st Latin American Seminar on Climate Justice (SLAJC).
