Climate integration into sectoral policies: The case of the Brazilian biofuel policy RenovaBio

Abstract

Seeking to derive lessons for future policy processes on how climate change concerns can be integrated into sectoral policies to expedite policy approval, we applied the Multiple Streams Framework to analyze the forces and dynamics at work in the policy process of Brazil's National Biofuel Policy (known as RenovaBio). Based on an analysis of 123 newspaper articles citing “RenovaBio” and eleven semistructured interviews with stakeholders from the fuel sector, the research findings suggest that attaching RenovaBio to the country's climate commitments helped to secure policy approval and decrease public opposition to it. On the other hand, having multiple objectives without a clear priority made policy direction more diffuse and vulnerable to criticisms. We also found that the existence of multiple policy entrepreneurs, in the different stages of the political process and with complementary skills, helped to speed the legislative process.