Tracing climate commitment in Brazil and South Africa, 2000-2020 | Compromisso climático no Brasil e na África do Sul, 2000-2020

In democracies, policy is the result of a process in which different groups interact to put forward their interests and ideas. This process does not happen in abstract; it is embedded in social structures that influence the position of each group as well as how they interact in the political game. It is not different regarding climate policy: the likelihood and effectiveness of climate action depends on coalitions in favor of climate mitigation and their strength to counter the force of coalitions against it. In this paper, by employing thick description, process tracing and political economy lenses, we analyze the commitment to climate change mitigation in two BRICS democracies – Brazil and South Africa – between 2000 and 2020.