OBSERVATÓRIO DO CLIMA
In the face of the global climate emergency, Brazil has a central organization that not only monitors what the country emits but also sets the agenda on how to stop emitting: the Observatório do Clima (OC).
Founded in 2002, this Brazilian network is composed of 160 civil society organizations and has established itself as the leading independent authority on climate policy in the country. The OC is not an international NGO; it is a local coordination that combines technical expertise with political mobilization to ensure Brazil meets the Paris Agreement.
Heavyweight Leadership: From Management to Technical Rigor. The organization is led by Marcio Astrini, Executive Secretary since 2020, a public management specialist with a long history in the third sector, including 13 years at Greenpeace Brazil. The technical robustness, a hallmark of the group, is spearheaded by experts like Tasso Azevedo and David Tsai, general coordinators of SEEG (System for Estimating Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Removals). This team coordinates a collective effort among leading institutions: IPAM (Land Use), IEMA (Energy and Industrial Processes), Imaflora (Agriculture), and ICLEI (Waste).
Why are they effective? Data that moves policies. The effectiveness of the Observatório do Clima is built on three main pillars: data transparency, ambitious proposals, and legal defense.
- The Power of SEEG: SEEG is one of the world’s largest emissions databases, with over 10 million open-access records. Its methodology is so rigorous that it was published in the journal Scientific Data (Nature Group). In 2024, SEEG recorded that Brazil saw a historic 16.7% drop in its gross emissions, vital data for society to demand that this pace be maintained.
- Ambition in Practice (NDC): The OC doesn’t just criticize; it proposes. For Brazil’s new climate goal (the Second NDC), the Observatory designed a path for the country to reduce its net emissions by 92% by 2035. The plan details targets to eliminate deforestation by 2030 and restore 21 million hectares of forest.
- Justice in Court: Through strategic climate litigation, the OC acts as a shield against setbacks. The network has led legal actions to reactivate the Amazon Fund and the Climate Fund, in addition to fighting “climate pedaling” (accounting maneuvers) that masked official government targets.
Impact by the Numbers
- 7 Brazilian states (including SP, MG, and RJ) have cooperation agreements to use SEEG data as the basis for their own official inventories and climate policies.
- 87 municipal solutions were cataloged to help city halls across the country decarbonize local management.
- Brazil is currently the country in the Global South with the highest number of climate litigation cases in the world, a direct result of the strategic network articulated by the OC.
Engagement Contact: For professionals and citizens interested in collaborating or obtaining technical data for adaptation and mitigation projects, the institutional contact is:
This post was submitted by Climate Scorecard Brazil Country Manager, Carlos Alexandre de Oliveira.