At an event hosted by the IEA and the Municipal Court of Auditors, experts discussed the oversight of resources and public policies related to climate
USP’s Institute of Advanced Studies (IEA) and São Paulo’s Municipal Court of Auditors (TCM-SP) held the seminar Climate Change and the Role of Courts of Auditors on August 19. The event brought together university researchers, representatives of oversight bodies, and national and international institutions to discuss how audit courts can address the impacts of the climate crisis. The goal was to strengthen the institutional role of TCM-SP and oversight bodies in advancing the environmental agenda, promoting budget transparency, and fostering innovation in public auditing. The initiative is part of the city’s preparations for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), to be held in Brazil in 2025.
At the opening of the event, the president of TCM-SP, Domingos Dissei, highlighted the seriousness of the climate crisis and the role of oversight institutions: “The climate crisis influences and accelerates profound and often irreversible transformations on the planet, aggravated by the enormous potential for devastating impacts on the life and future of humanity,” he said. He emphasized that Courts of Auditors need to act effectively in the implementation of climate policies: “The greatest challenge is concrete and forceful participation in the implementation of effective policies, which will only be guaranteed through transversal work, involving different levels of government.”
During his speech, Dissei announced the creation of the Climate Room at TCM-SP, which will be dedicated to monitoring and analyzing processes related to climate change. “The Climate Room will be equipped with the most current technologies, allowing real-time monitoring of processes, identification of patterns and trends, issuance of alerts, and providing accurate information to support the Court’s decisions,” he explained.
For USP President Carlos Gilberto Carlotti Junior, the University must remain attentive to the education of critical students and ensure that scientific knowledge is transformed into actions with social impact. “It is no longer enough to produce articles and keep this knowledge restricted to scientific journals. It needs to be turned into public policies and into tools society can use to improve quality of life and reduce inequalities. That is the role of the University: to be a driver of social development,” he stated.
Carlotti also stressed the importance of oversight bodies for sound public management: “Courts of Auditors and the Public Prosecutor’s Office have the mission not only of verifying whether resources were used correctly, but also of ensuring that investments address society’s needs. This relationship is fundamental to the functioning of public institutions.”
When addressing environmental issues, the President stressed that the climate crisis is already a reality. “We are living through an extremely urgent crisis. We must contain its advance, or we risk making human life on the planet unfeasible. USP has sought to set an example on its campuses, with photovoltaic energy production, hydrogen-powered vehicles, and research directly applied to society,” he noted.He added that the University, in partnership with the State and the municipality of São Paulo, is preparing a pre-COP this year focused on metropolises and local biomes. “Confronting the climate crisis requires joint efforts, interdisciplinarity, and cooperation between the university, the public sector, and oversight bodies,” he concluded.
IEA director Roseli de Deus Lopes stressed the importance of scientific research as a component of public policies: “It is necessary to insist on evidence-based decisions to improve planning and the use of public resources. The consequences of the climate crisis are already present, meaning we are behind in our actions. Today’s meeting represents a positive step in the public debate, as it strengthens the role of Courts of Auditors in fostering proposals and ensuring better use of funds, accelerating processes that should already be more advanced and making it clear that we must act immediately to prevent a decline in the quality of life for everyone, regardless of status or social class. If we want a better future, we must act now.”
Also present at the opening were public sector authorities such as the minister of the Federal Court of Accounts, Jorge Oliveira, and São Paulo municipal secretaries Edson Aparecido dos Santos, from the Government Secretariat, and José Renato Nalini, executive secretary for Climate Change.
The program was organized into two panels. The first addressed the global challenges of climate emergencies and the role of Courts of Auditors in environmental oversight. Researchers from IEA and representatives of institutions such as the Amazonas Court of Accounts analyzed the need to expand oversight of budgets allocated to mitigation and adaptation policies. Among the IEA speakers were Carlos Nobre, Marcos Buckeridge, Alejandro Jorge Dorado, and Fabio Feldmann.
In the second panel, discussions focused on regional and urban issues, with emphasis on public budgets and the financing of sustainability-oriented policies. Experts from USP and São Paulo’s public administration presented experiences and proposals to integrate the climate agenda into fiscal management.
The full recording of the event can be watched below:
English version: Nexus Traduções, edited by Denis Pacheco
