Brazil and the Challenge of Financing for Sustainable Development: A New Imperative for Survival

This chapter critiques the current approach to financing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), attributing challenges to a lack of political will, biased policies, and public-private partnerships favoring economic elites. It calls for a fundamental shift in economic paradigms and political courage to effectively implement the SDGs. The persistence of neocolonialism is identified through mechanisms like debt cycles and cognitive illusions sustaining social and economic inequalities. To overcome this, the author advocates for a sincere examination of history, counter-hegemonic enlightenment, and global decolonization. Economic elites, rooted in historical conservative values, are blamed for hindering progressive reforms, tax changes, and necessary regulations, leading to a cycle of debt and austerity policies. The resurgence of neofascism, fueled by resistant elites, is noted. This chapter connects neocolonialism to historical colonization patterns, emphasizing globalization’s role in perpetuating economic asymmetry and environmental degradation. In the context of Brazil, this chapter criticizes the alignment with orthodox economic policies, advocating for a progressive tax reform, economic literacy, and public bank alignment with the SDGs to foster sustainable development.