Brazilian Corporate Sustainability Regulation in the Green Transition: Missing the Forest for the Trees

Abstract

The article describes and analyses new regulatory and governance rules regarding corporate sustainability regulation in Brazil, including the new provisions by the capital markets, the financial authorities, and private frameworks. This is done through the theoretical lens of a critical approach to socio-ecological transformation, shedding light on the broader context in which the institutional innovations take place: the political project of relying on finance to guide the transformation and the current transformations (i.e., the dismantling) of the traditional apparatus for environmental protection. In so doing, the contributions are twofold: on an empirical level, the article presents an overview of new rules regarding corporate governance and climate change in Brazil, serving as a useful source for comparison with other jurisdictions and a critical analysis of trends and differences in Northern and Southern Countries. On the theoretical level, we argue in favour of the need for a holistic approach that considers the broader regulatory context including the political agenda boosting the reforms in internal corporate governance and the circumstances of external environmental regulation. As such, we stress the interplay between extra-corporate and intra corporate governance tools in fostering corporate sustainability.