We are delighted to welcome Dr Rodrigo Fagundes Cezar, assistant professor at Fundação Getulio Vargas' (FGV) School of International Relations in São Paulo, Brazil and Academic Advisor at United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS) to the Institute of Sustainability and Climate Change.
We would like to invite you to join us to Dr Cezar's talk on “Brazil in the Geopolitics of Green Trade”.
This event is open to all staff and students at the University of Bath. There is no need to pre-register, just turn up.
Talk: Brazil in the Geopolitics of Green Trade
Brazil is richly endowed with strategic natural resources, yet its response to the geopolitics of green trade has been cautious and reactive.
It has deliberately avoided adopting a geopolitical trade strategy, instead relying on multilateralism, legalism, and diversification to preserve autonomy while maintaining access to key markets such as China, the United States, and the European Union.
In the emerging geopolitics of green trade, this posture is increasingly under strain. This creates a clear paradox: Brazil seeks to avoid geopolitics, yet cannot escape it. The absence of a more assertive strategy could limit Brazil’s role in the low-carbon transition.
This matters directly for Europeans. A more geostrategic Brazil might offer a stable and scalable source of low-carbon commodities, reduce dependence on a narrow set of suppliers, and expand opportunities for cooperation in green supply chains. In a context of geopolitical fragmentation, this would strengthen Europeans’ ability to diversify risk while advancing climate and trade objectives.
About Dr Rodrigo Fagundes Cezar
Rodrigo Fagundes Cezar is an assistant professor at the School of International Relations of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV RI).
He holds a PhD in International Relations/Political Science from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a member of the advisory committee of the United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS).
His research interests focus on the fields of International Political Economy, International Institutions, and Transnational Governance. More specifically, his work investigates the determinants and effects of sustainable trade policies. His studies have been published in journals such as New Political Economy and Environmental Politics. Rodrigo also writes regularly for the newspaper Valor Econômico.
Visit Rodrigo's personal website or his ResearchGate Profile.