Opinion – Why? Economês in good Portuguese: The importance of science for the green recovery of the economy

For all Brazilians, the impact of public policies on the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic and the importance of science in guiding governments and society on health issues became clear. However, the role of science in politics is much greater than that. With the recent economic and political crisis, there is a great opportunity for Brazil to advance the green economy agenda. And one of the pillars of the green recovery of the Brazilian economy needs to be the reintegration of science into the political sphere. Let’s understand why.

The role of the various scientific disciplines in the development of Brazil is threefold:

First, natural science researchers are key to enabling the monitoring and understanding of the Earth’s natural processes and flows, which is crucial to informing society on how to enable economic development that is ecologically sound and sustainable in the long term.

Second, the planning and evaluation of public and private policies that will create the necessary incentives for this transition to a low carbon economy must be done by social scientists, including economists. Economics, as a science, is the “study of scarce resources, for external purposes”. This includes, for example, the study on the choice between different allocation alternatives that aim at a green economic recovery for Brazil. Which option of market instruments (such as taxes, subsidies or carbon pricing) will generate the greatest reduction of carbon in the atmosphere (i.e. is the best option for mitigating climate effects), at the lowest cost (both monetary costs of implementation and indirect costs such as loss of welfare), given a reduction target that a government has set (eg in the Paris accords or the COP last year)? It is not possible to answer this question without scientific knowledge.

Third, it is important to remember that encouraging green growth is a strategy with the direct objective of enabling economic recovery. For this to happen, there must be an improvement in the country’s productivity and competition, especially with regard to environmental protection. In this strategy, science is crucial for the generation of new knowledge and technologies.

There are several examples in the world of how science can integrate public debate and foster the design of good policies, whether with more funds destined for universities and research institutes, or in consulting experts when planning new public initiatives or evaluating the impacts. economic, environmental and social impacts of already implemented initiatives. Recent studies show empirical evidence that strict environmental regulation and integration in low carbon markets can not only stimulate technological and scientific innovation, but also improve productive capacity and increase competitiveness, which is known in “economish” as the Porter Hypothesis. .

However, we see the Brazilian government going in the opposite direction. Drastic reductions in the science and technology budget, promotion of scientific denialism, discontinuity of essential research for economic planning such as the demographic census and the refusal to integrate science, environment and economics into a government plan are just some of the many examples of setbacks. There seems to be an insistence on considering environmental protection and the promotion of science and education as barriers to economic growth, and a renunciation of creating incentives for science and technology.

Without science in politics, there is no way to make it possible for Brazil to transition to a green economic recovery. Therefore, for the reconstruction of the Brazilian economy, it is important to defend that we see more #science in the elections.

This column was written for the #scienceinelections campaign, which celebrates Science Month. In July, columnists give up their space to reflect on the role of science in the reconstruction of Brazil.