Government Planning for Adaptation to Climate Change and Energy Efficiency in Brazilian Climate Policy
Energy policy; energy efficiency; government planning; climate policy.
The subject of the work is the discussion of energy efficiency policy as part of Brazilian environmental policy. It deals with the redefinition of the Brazilian state's role as a driving force behind the compatibility of energy and climate policies for sustainable development. The energy sector is one of the economic sectors that emits the most greenhouse gases in all its stages of energy generation, transmission, distribution and end use, as well as being at the heart of socio-environmental conflicts arising from the expansion of energy supply and infrastructure at national, regional and local levels. Given its strategic importance for development, the energy sector faces the challenge of restructuring itself to ensure sustainable energy security to meet the country's current and future needs. As such, it forms part of the framework of sectors that are essential to the realization of the constitutional right and duty of the Brazilian state to preserve an ecologically balanced environment. In view of this, the problem focuses on the following question: in the context of the commitment made by the Public Authorities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and joint responsibility for protecting the environmental balance, what are the possibilities for promoting public policy in energy efficiency by the Federation entities in their respective climate policies? The initial hypothesis is that the state is developing energy efficiency actions linked to environmental conservation, but that these measures are not enough to mitigate or adapt to the climate commitments made by the country. With regard to the general objective, the aim is to analyze the inclusion of energy efficiency as part of the government's climate policy to adapt and mitigate the negative effects of the climate. To this end, the specific objectives consist of: 1) structuring the legal relationship between energy, sustainable development and climate change; 2) outlining the Brazilian state's duty for an energy efficiency policy, with its guidelines and bases for action; 3) mapping the national, state and municipal climate policies of Brazilian capitals, checking their respective approaches to the issue of energy efficiency. The relevance of this study is justified by its topicality, socio-environmental relevance and link to goals 7, 12 and 13 of the 2030 Agenda. As for the methodology, the study uses the hypothetical-deductive method, has an applied nature, a qualitative approach, whose objectives are developed under exploratory and descriptive modalities. The procedural techniques adopted were documentary and bibliographical research. The results show that Brazilian climate policy has associated energy efficiency initiatives as a parameter for mitigating climate change by reducing the pollution potential of the energy sector. However, it is structured in a heterogeneous way between federal entities, indicating a lack of alignment between public policies, despite the parameters defined nationally by the Union. There are technical, institutional and financial disparities in the structuring of energy efficiency measures in states and municipalities, including the absence of climate planning in certain regions and capitals, which indicates the importance of filling this gap in order to improve policy at all levels of the federation.