Research Project

Despite international policies and the advent of new technologies favoring renewable sources of energy, the world has been facing various global energy challenges and shifts that defy a swift transition from fossil fuels. From the political economy perspective,  new configurations taking shape internationally have questioned the established Global Order. One such case is the continuous rise of the so-called Global South, of which the BRICS countries are an example. Following the visit by PM Kishida to Brazil and Latin America in May 2024 and in the context of the exponential growth of the China-Latin America relations, the invitation to Dr. Floriano Filho will enable a discussion of the Asia-Latin America trade relationship and the global energy transition. In particular, he contributes to shaping the frontier research agenda and expanding network on the academic discussion regarding strategic minerals' supply security as mentioned in the research plan below. 

The invitee has also agreed to conduct the following activities in conjunction with the Host Researcher:

A special lecture or workshop at the host researcher's institute (the Graduate School of International Development);

To exchange ideas with the NU faculty.

Research topic: Global Energy Hurdles and Shifts

This project proposes to analyze the political economy of global energy transition for climate change and demands for traditional and critical energy commodities in the relationship between technology-advanced countries (TACs), Japan and China in particular, and suppliers of critical resources in Latin America. 

Japan and China, despite having very distinct natural resource endowments, are among the top importers of energy commodities in the world. On the other hand, the US is a major energy producer, exporter, and importer, but heavily relies on imports for at least 20 critical and strategic minerals. This has led Japan and China to launch resource diplomacy efforts and “go-out” policies to secure energy and mineral resources from other parts of the world, including Latin America. While Japan’s diplomatic and economic relationship with Latin American countries dates back to many decades, China’s efforts to secure access to strategic minerals and energy commodities involving global infrastructure projects and financial initiatives is relatively a recent trend. The growth of China-Latin America relations has also impacted supply security and prices of strategic minerals. 

Latin America is rich in valuable minerals, such as copper, lithium, rare earth elements, and other critical minerals used in industries such as batteries, electronics, renewable energy, and electric vehicles. China's soaring demand for these minerals with increasing exploration, extraction, and exports from Latin American countries has raised concerns about international supply security, as its dominance in the global supply chain of strategic minerals fears reemerging vulnerabilities in resource producing countries. Moreover, hegemonic participation has great potential to influence price fluctuations with geopolitical implications. 

More specifically, China and Brazil, two of the BRICS countries, have greatly deepened their trade relationship in the last two decades, particularly in the energy and food sectors. The latter is the largest oil-producing country among LAC and one of the top four agricultural producers in the world. Within LAC, Brazil remains China’s top trade partner by a wide margin, and Chinese cars, particularly electric and hybrid ones, are the second most imported in Brazil, after Korean automobiles. In addition to that, Chinese EV companies such as Chery, BYD, and GWM have already established plants in Brazil, intending to use the country as an exporting platform to other LACs, and initiated different renewable value chains with considerable economic and environmental impacts in the region. 

On the other hand, increasing global competition for mineral and energy resources has also raised environmental concerns related to water usage, deforestation, air pollution, and battery waste and recycling.

The challenges in energy transition and the significance of the Asia-Latin American relation are closely aligned with academic projects currently underway in the Graduate School of International Development (GSID). Host researcher has conducted studies on resource politics in Latin America and Asian foreign aid policies. His publications include “Oil Industry Structures and their Effects on Aid Policies in East Asian Countries,” in The 'Easternization' of Development: The Politics of East Asia's Developmentalist Cooperation (edited by Sanae Ito, Practical Action Publishing, 2023), and Resource States and Democracy (邦題：『資源国家と民主主義―ラテンアメリカの挑戦』, Nagoya University Press, 2016). He is currently undertaking an international research project about global energy transition with attention to Asia-Latin America relationship.

Besides, Dr. Filho can expand the global research network for NU and Japanese academia, strengthening its reach toward emerging research on BRICS, among them Brazil and China in particular. Being part of the Brazil-Japan Academic Collaboration Network, Dr. Filho has published articles about Japan-Korean Peninsula relations and the energy security of Japan and Taiwan. In 2021, he published his book chapter comparing Taiwan-Latin America energy policies, following his first postdoc in Taiwan.

The energy transition in the Asia-Pacific aligns well with Dr. Filho's previous studies on energy security and his research on how China and Japan are engaging with Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) to secure energy and mineral resources. LAC can be considered a peripheral resource region from the perspective of the Asia-Pacific.

In terms of the demand for critical minerals to support clean energy technologies and how it reshapes geopolitics, supply chains, and development models, Dr. Filho's insights on China's strategic investments in the lithium supply chain in South America's "Lithium Triangle" directly relate to this.

His analysis of China's "resource diplomacy" and "go-out" policies to engage with LAC countries, as well as the role of Chinese companies in renewable energy projects in the region, would be highly relevant to discuss how different state-state and state-market relations are being reconfigured in the context of the energy transition.

The workshop organizers stated their interest in papers that "complicate North/South, core/periphery binaries" in the energy transition. Dr. Filho's analysis of the evolving political economy of China-LAC relations, including Brazil's position as both a peripheral resource supplier among the world’s top oil producing countries and an emerging market that is part of the BRICS, could provide valuable empirical and conceptual insights into this.

Overall, Dr. Filho's research on China's strategic engagement with LAC in the context of the global energy transition aligns strongly with the Kyoto workshop's core themes and objectives. His findings and analytical perspectives would likely make a productive contribution to the discussions and publications as outputs from the event.

The special lecture or workshop at the host researcher's institute (the Graduate School of International Development). This can be an IAR lecture or in collaboration with other related projects. Both NU people and the broader public will be invited. The event can focus on Latin America as Professor Isamu Okada is hosting another scholar from Peru, or it targets global issues related to energy transition, gathering people from the Kyoto workshop who stroll to Nagoya.