The financialization of the energy transition in Brazil: between de-risking and development

The article analyzes the financialization of the energy transition in Brazil, framing it within the paradigm of the Wall Street Consensus, which expands the role of the financial sector and the state as a de-risking agent for private investment. The research investigates how Brazil’s strategy for financing the energy transition aligns with the logic of financialized capitalism. The study examines: (1) the growing private participation in wind and solar energy infrastructure, dominated by transnational corporations; (2) the decline in public financing through BNDES; and (3) the expansion of market instruments such as incentivized debentures. The findings indicate that Brazil has deepened its financialized approach to energy transition financing. There has been a significant increase in investments in PPI and privatizations, particularly between 2016 and 2022 (under the presidencies of Michel Temer and Jair Bolsonaro), marked by a growing presence of transnational corporations and institutional foreign investors, a declining role of public financing through BNDES, and an increasing reliance on capital market instruments, which are incentivized by state-backed tax benefits. The results suggest that Brazil has adopted a de-risking state regime and that its green financing strategies align with the premises outlined in the literature as the Wall Street Consensus.