Under the governments of Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff, Brazil aimed at creating a global market for ethanol as a green transport fuel, and ethanol diplomacy became a signature component of Brazil’s international insertion at the time. This study examines Brazil’s international ethanol strategy and creates a comprehensive overview of the theoretical and practical approaches that Brazil undertook to promote ethanol as a tool to achieve energy security and combat climate change in a framework of South-South cooperation.