In a year in which heavy rains caused major damage to Rio Grande do Sul, fires destroyed the Amazon and the Pantanal, and a severe drought altered the landscape of the entire country, Brazilians dream of a world in which the country is a climate leader.
This is one of the conclusions of the research “Phasing out fossil fuels in Brazil”, conducted by ClimaInfo through the platform Pollfish.
The survey identified a high level of recognition of the causes and effects of climate change, in addition to the desire for Brazil to be a protagonist in the fight against climate change, both by combating deforestation and by leading the global energy transition.
The survey showed that 79% of participants want Brazil to lead the energy transition in the world.
For 64% of them, Brazil should focus its economic development efforts towards eliminating the production and consumption of fossil fuels.
A slightly larger percentage, around 73%, believe that stopping the change of climate should be a government priority.
Only 21% say that Brazil should act only after other countries have made their transition. Almost the entire sample (97%) s ending deforestation by 2030.
According to Delcio Rodrigues, director of the ClimaInfo Institute, what is surprising in this survey is the high percentage of respondents who recognize that the main cause of climate change is the burning of fossil fuels and the understanding that the energy transition can be an economic opportunity for the country.
“When researching climate change, we came across the Brazil of Brazilians’ dreams: a leader in the economy allied with nature and a powerhouse in the renewable electricity world that is being created,” he said.
Energy transition and fossil fuels
The survey also found that 72% of respondents believe that companies that produce fossil fuels, such as oil or gas, should be held responsible for climate extremes.
A similar percentage (71%) believe it is possible to stop burning fossil fuels by 2050. Two-thirds of the sample (66%) still ed ending new fossil energy projects by 2025.
“In Brazil, the main investor in fossil fuels is Petrobras, and the survey addressed participants’ opinions about the company,” highlights ClimaInfo.
In this sense, the survey asked respondents whether they believed that the company should start migrating to the renewable energy market as a way of maintaining its leadership in the energy market ahead of its competitors.
For 89% of respondents, Petrobras' change to a renewable energy company would be good for Brazil and 70% believe that Brazil will continue to grow even if it stops all new fossil fuel exploration.
The study also asked people whether they believe the impacts on the Brazilian economy will be devastating if extreme events worsen. For 91% the answer was “yes”.
Regarding electromobility, it is also possible to note some clarity about what a future without fossil fuels would be like: 88% of respondents that all new cars, trucks and buses be powered by clean energy by 2035 and half of them (50%) see solar energy as a priority for government investment in the next five years.
“This opinion poll, a pioneer in addressing the issue of fossil fuels, has messages for the government. For the executive branch, the high approval of measures to decarbonize the economy is good news, since the country presides over the G20 this year and the UN Climate Conference in 2025,” the study highlights.
Data collection for this research was carried out on the Platform Pollfish on July 15, 2024, in an online format, and had the participation of approximately 2 thousand respondents. The survey's margin of error is 2%.
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