A mindset fixed on the past makes it difficult to transition to a low-carbon economy – 01/05/2024 – Deborah Bizarria

At the turn of the year, the Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services (MDIC) announced measures to reintroduce taxation on imported electric vehicles and photovoltaic panels. Although decades of protectionism have not prevented the decline of the industry, they are once again betting on commercial isolation. The difficulty for politicians to adapt and seek new solutions has an impact on development.

Different worldviews seem to impact attitudes, beliefs and actions in the face of climate change.

Researchers Lorenzo Duchia, Doug Lombardi, Fred Paas and Sofie Loyens decided to test this hypothesis through questionnaires and exposure of participants to texts about climate change. The results reveal that a growth mindset, characterized by the view of the world as a changeable and improveable entity, is associated with greater acceptance of climate change, belief in its mitigation and propensity for pro-environmental behaviors.

Similarly, those with a fixed mindset, that is, people who tend to avoid challenges, give up easily when faced with obstacles, ignore criticism and feedback, were less sensitive to texts on climate issues and engaged less in green attitudes. In practice, a pre-existing view of the world contributes or hinders the search for and adoption of new solutions.

When it comes to industrial policy, Brazil suffers from a serious case of fixed mentality. While we make commitments towards a transition to a low-carbon economy, incentives for the automobile industry remain firm with 3 billion in benefits and taxes on imports of solar panels increase.

If protectionism generated development and technological innovation, the most protected sectors of the Brazilian economy should be those that grow the most in productivity. But, on the contrary, protectionism can compromise innovation and the transition to low-carbon development by discouraging access to cutting-edge equipment that Brazil does not produce. This type of measure favors a restricted group of national companies that have already benefited from previous programs without large deliveries. Those who pay the bill are other companies and consumers.

In fact, well-established markets are allies of green development. We need a political mindset that can look at the past, see what went wrong, and move forward with promising solutions. In this sense, the government’s effort should be to approve the regulation of the Carbon Market in order to create monetary incentives for technologies that reduce emissions or that manage to capture carbon in the atmosphere.

Another possible measure is to consider the environmental externalities of electricity generation; factors that should be reflected in prices. This measure also covers distributed generation, enabling the dynamic expansion of the system through renewable sources. These proposals, in addition to being aligned with the need to promote more sustainable economic practices, do not perpetuate the privileges for automakers and the protectionism to which the country has been subjected.

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