Tracking Subnational Climate Policy

the impacts of the “Governors for the Climate Alliance” in Rio Grande do Sul

Abstract

Contrary to the institutionalist paradigm based on negotiations by national governments, there is a growing consensus on the relevance of the sub-national scale for achieving climate goals.  We analyzed the implementation of the Governors for Climate alliance for public policies in Rio Grande do Sul, specifically the goals of the Race to Zero campaign adopted in 2021.  We used criteria by the University of Oxford, also elements of the Theory of Change as a reference for analyzing official state government publications between 2021 and 2024. Results: We found that in the first three years, Rio Grande do Sul’s policy has proved innocuous in terms of decarbonizing the economy. Based on this diagnosis, we sought to identify the relevant obstacles, including climate finance, human resources, governance, political will and transparency, for achieving the effect of reducing emissions by public and private managers. Among the findings, we highlight that, during the first three years of participation in the Race to Zero campaign, no public policies or budgetary resources were allocated to reduce the state’s GHG emissions. Nevertheless, extensive marketing and outreach activities were carried out based on the Executive branch’s stated intentions.