What Do We Want to Be When We Grow Up? The Political Dimensions of Climate Change in Brazil, China and Mozambique

Abstract

Climate change represents a multilevel challenge, simultaneously relating to the local and global scales. National governments are key actors in developing climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. Brazil, China and Mozambique are cases where climate risks may deepen vulnerabilities and undermine development prospects. This chapter presents an analysis of key climate change strategies and action in Brazil, China and Mozambique since the 1970s, when the environmental issue emerged onto the world political agenda following the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm. Our analysis focuses on the institutional arrangements and political strategies that have emerged since then in Brazil, China and Mozambique and how these countries have addressed the climate issue in their political processes until 2019. Our results show that both Brazil and China have focused much of their efforts on mitigating actions, that is, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Their climate agenda is motivated by treating climate risk in this way, while the adaptation agenda is incipient in these countries. On the other hand, in Mozambique, political action on climate change is largely based on the need to respond to the risks and disasters that are intensified by these changes.