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Countries have pledged to different national and international environmental agreements, most prominently the climate change mitigation targets of the Paris Agreement. Accounting for carbon stocks and flows (fluxes) is essential for countries that have recently adopted the United Nations System of Environmental-Economic Accounting - ecosystem accounting framework (UNSEEA) as a global statistical standard. In this paper, we analyze how spatial carbon fluxes can be used in support of the UNSEEA carbon accounts in five case countries with available in-situ data. Using global multi-date biomass map products and other remotely sensed data, we mapped the 2010–2018 carbon fluxes in Brazil, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Sweden and the USA using National Forest Inventory (NFI) and local biomass maps from airborne LiDAR as reference data. We identified areas that are unsupported by the reference data within environmental feature space (6–47% of vegetated country area); cross-validated an ensemble machine learning (RMSE=9–39 Mg C ha - 1 and R 2 =0.16–0.71) used to map carbon fluxes with prediction intervals; and assessed spatially correlated residuals (<5 km) before aggregating carbon fluxes from 1-ha pixels to UNSEEA forest classes. The resulting carbon accounting tables revealed the net carbon sequestration in natural broadleaved forests. Both in plantations and in other woody vegetation ecosystems, emissions exceeded sequestration. Overall, our estimates align with FAO-Forest Resource Assessment and national studies with the largest deviations in Brazil and USA. These two countries used highly clustered reference data, where clustering caused uncertainty given the need to extrapolate to under-sampled areas. We finally provide recommendations to mitigate the effect of under-sampling and to better account for the uncertainties once carbon stocks and flows need to be aggregated in relatively smaller countries. These actions are timely given the global initiatives that aim to upscale UNSEEA carbon accounting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to understand how the FUCAPE 120% Sustainable project promotes sustainable development in higher education. The project was conceived and implemented by FUCAPE Business School, a private higher education institution (HEI) specialised in business, located in Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil. Design/methodology/approach: The approach of the study was qualitative research based on a case study. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 12 stakeholders involved in FUCAPE 120% Sustainable. Findings: The results indicate that FUCAPE 120% Sustainable is a project formed from 18 sustainable actions incorporated on the campus of FUCAPE Business School. Most of the project's actions are connected to the triple bottom line (TBL) and linked to sustainable development goals (SDGs), particularly SDG12 (responsible consumption and production), SDG13 (climate action) and SDG17 (partnerships for the goals). Research limitations/implications: This study contributes to the literature by extending information on sustainability in HEIs, focusing specifically on a business HEI. Practical implications: This is an innovative project that can serve as a model for other HEIs, with due adaptations. As business HEIs do not usually have laboratories, they may be considered to have little effect on the environment. However, this study found that business HEIs can have a relevant impact on the environment, and the adoption of sustainable actions can minimise adverse effects. Originality/value: Various sustainability projects and actions are developed and implemented by HEIs, but studies analysing the projects in business HEIs or studies linking the actions of the project to the TBL theory and SDGs are scarce. Sustainable business HEI-based projects may provide future managers a more inter-disciplinary and sustainable vision focused on the TBL and SDGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is a concerning topic, as it is impossible to deny its damaging effects on the planet. Different policy responses have been offered regarding climate change adaptation, and these have brought forward issues related to climate justice. As this topic is still not very well known in Brazil, this paper aims to raise awareness on climate justice concepts and related issues. This is a literature review which analyses climate justice theories and their relation with the concept of climate change adaptation in order to offer a new point-of-view on the topic. This paper has come to the conclusion that the concept of climate change has been created due to the increased importance of climate justice. Its origins lie in climate change activism, which seeks to help the most affected communities. That was when the fight for sharing the burden of climate change emerged, giving rise to the concepts of mitigation and climate adaptation. Thus, the most affected populations should receive assistance in the form of climate change impact adaptation, financed by the countries which are responsible for most greenhouse effect gas emissions, in name of climate justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forests serve a crucial role in our fight against climate change. Secondary forests provide important potential for conservation of biodiversity and climate change mitigation. In this paper, we explore whether collective property rights in the form of indigenous territories (ITs) lead to higher rates of secondary forest growth in previously deforested areas. We exploit the timing of granting of property rights, the geographic boundaries of ITs and two different methods, regression discontinuity design and differencein-difference, to recover causal estimates. We find strong evidence that indigenous territories with secure tenure not only reduce deforestation inside their lands but also lead to higher secondary forest growth on previously deforested areas. After receiving full property rights, land inside ITs displayed higher secondary forest growth than land outside ITs, with an estimated effect of 5% using our main RDD specification, and 2.21% using our difference-in-difference research design. Furthermore, we estimate that the average age of secondary forests was 2.2 y older inside ITs with secure tenure using our main RDD specification, and 2.8 y older when using our difference-indifference research design. Together, these findings provide evidence for the role that collective property rights can play in the push to restore forest ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adapting reservoir operation to a changing climate is important to improve water system performance toward benefits including water security, and energy production. However, managers still need to know if and how reoperation can also assist long-term mitigation of climate change impacts on aquatic ecosystems, creating, for example, opportunities to revert fish migration and recruitment losses. This paper investigates the operational adaptive capacity of water systems to mitigate climate change impacts on both hydropower and aquatic ecosystems, with a detailed representation of fish species recruitment response to flow regime changes. The methodology framework combines hydroclimatic modeling, explicit stochastic reservoir operation modeling, and predictive modeling of migratory fish recruitment abundance, illustrated using the large-scale hydropower system of the Paraná River Basin in Brazil. Results identified that operating policies can be adapted to improve hydropower production under a changing climate with drier conditions by 2% to 8% compared with current operating policies. Although insufficient to eliminate all energy losses that climate change may cause, the optimized operation provided flexibility to adjust flow releases and reduce the likelihood of future severe multiyear deficits, which are very harmful to fish populations. Adapting operation to climate change sacrificed fish recruitment performance over a few years of the time horizon to maintain an overall higher storage, but it also improved the chances of producing flow releases in magnitude, timing, and duration during long drier periods that prevented more severe impacts of climate change on fish recruitment and population. This indicates that it might be possible to have synergies in adapting reservoir operation to not only prevent energy losses, but also to improve fish recruitment under climate change. The ecosystem resiliency under adapted operation increased up to 2 times compared with the isolated climate change effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper revisits the intense using of energy in the world and the role of the fossil fuels with predominance of the oil in the global primary energy supply and their effects to climate change. It also presents a new reading on the thermodynamic conditions and characteristics of CO2 and CO2-EOR together with oil industry advancement in the world and Brazil. The interface with chemical EOR processes involving nanoparticles (NPs), their application inside the reservoirs for EOR and understanding of fines migration reducing, among other physical phenomena is also studied. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a worldwide strategy for mitigating climate change. CO2 geosequestration is also analyzed on the leakage of CO2 and brine from aquifers and their implication to the security of the storage and environment. Recent studies show that, globally, CO2-EOR can extract up to 375 billion of additional oil barrels and geological storage up to 360 Gt of CO2 in the next 50 years. Pre-salt is a complex of microbial carbonate reservoirs with stromatolite framework in ultra-deep waters (1500–3000) m depth, underneath by thick salt layer (2000–2500) m. Its reservoirs are in the depth up to (5500–6500) m TVDSS and approximately (200–300) km offshore. It presents light oils and high (GOR) ranging (200–400) Sm3/Sm3 and huge CO2 contamination (8–15)%. Due to the large CO2 content of oil, this work investigated CO2-EOR and CO2 geosequestration within the reservoirs. Pilot test demonstrated that miscible CO2-EOR with WAG is feasible and beneficial to this hydrocarbon Province. This study also calculated and validated the potential of CO2-EOR to the CCS. It concludes that Pre-salt can contribute to recovery factor (RF) increasing about 5.7 billion of additional oil barrels, and to CCS with about 266 Mt CO2 to be geological stored, for the next 20 years. In this context, this work also analyses the recent changes on the Brazilian oil and gas regulation to encourage new international Companies to enter in Brazil and Pre-salt for petroleum exploring. In Pre-salt, CO2-EOR also connects the petroleum energy system to CCS, transforming the oil reservoir in a carbon sink. These results represent a substantial role of Pre-salt to the energy efficiency of energy resources recovering from the biosphere and a high contribution to the climate change mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we draw on common-pool resource theory to argue that indigenous territories, when granted full property rights, will be effective at curbing deforestation. Using satellite data, we test the effect of property rights on deforestation between 1982 and 2016. In order to identify causal effects, we combine a regression discontinuity design with the orthogonal timing of homologation. We find that observations inside territories with full property rights show a significant decrease in deforestation, while the effect does not exist in territories without full property rights. While these are local average treatment effects, our results suggest that not only do indigenous territories serve a human-rights role, but they are a cost-effective way for governments to preserve their forested areas. First, obtaining full property rights is crucial to recognize indigenous peoples’ original right to land and protect their territories from illegal deforestation. Second, when implemented, indigenous property rights reduce deforestation inside indigenous territories in the Amazon rain-forest, and could provide an important positive externality for Brazil and the rest of the world in terms of climate change mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transitioning from a carbon-intensive development path to a low-carbon economy requires understanding of emission sources and its drivers. To achieve Nationally Determined Contribution targets discussed under the Paris Agreement, countries must project emission baselines considering different levels of ambition and sectoral performances and monitor government policies and mitigation actions. This study develops a Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) framework based on energy use and carbon emission scenarios for Brazil up to 2030, focusing on transport. Three scenarios are developed based on different political commitments. All scenarios and mitigation actions are discussed under the Brazilian Forum on Climate Change, which is recognized as one of the most important institutional instruments of the National Policy on Climate Change. Results reveal a 41% abatement in CO2e emissions when comparing the most ambitious scenario to the conservative one. MRV framework indicates that Brazil is on track to a low carbon economic transition, although joint action is needed. This is mainly due to the increasing penetration of bioenergy into the transport energy matrix, while electromobility does not expand in Brazil at the pace of major international players such as Europe and China. Special contribution of this paper is on the role of bioenergy in prospective carbon emission scenarios, which is a lack in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper measures the economic impacts of Brazil's climate mitigation strategies contained in its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). To do so, we employ the computable general equilibrium MIT Economic Projection and Policy Analysis model and simulate alternative carbon pricing scenarios (sectoral versus economy-wide carbon markets), set to achieve the country's overall emissions targets announced under the Paris Agreement. The results show relatively cheap emissions reductions from land-use changes and agriculture in the short run: the cost of the Brazilian NDC is predicted to be only 0.7 per cent of GDP in 2030. Further efforts to reduce carbon emissions beyond 2030 would require policy changes, since all the potential emissions reductions from deforestation would be finished and the capacity to expand renewable energy sources would be constrained. In this case, an economy-wide carbon pricing system would help substantially to avoid higher compliance costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates non-governmental organisation (NGO) involvement in policy processes related to Norway's International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) comparing four countries: Norway, Brazil, Indonesia, and Tanzania. Based on documents and interviews, NGO involvement is mapped using a conceptual framework to categorise and compare different roles and modes of engagement. NGOs have co-operated with government in policy design and implementation, albeit to varying degrees, in all four countries, but expressed relatively little public criticism. Funding seems to have an influence on NGOs' choices regarding whether, what, when, and how to criticise. However, limited public criticism does not necessarily mean that the NGOs are co-opted. They are reflexive regarding their possible operating space, and act strategically and pragmatically to pursue their goals in an entrepreneurial manner. The interests of NGOs and NICFI are to a large extent congruent. Instead of publicly criticising a global initiative that they largely support, and thus put the initiative as a whole at risk, NGOs may use other, more informal, channels to voice points of disagreement. While NGOs do indeed run the risk of being co-opted, their opportunity to resist this fate is probably greater in this instance than is usually the case because NICFI are so reliant on their services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzed, for the Brazilian case, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The concept of negative externality and market failure was used to understand the need for environmental policies capable of favoring the sustainable development of countries. The results show the importance of scale for the registration of projects. The energy sector, for example, has more small-scale projects that were created to simplify procedures and lower costs. It was concluded, in general, that the CDM has become an international historical landmark, as it is an innovative tool in contributing to the mitigation of climate change. However, despite its importance being recognized globally, it was observed that the mechanism has weakened over time and there are uncertainties regarding the validity of the Kyoto Protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge and application of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in the Private Natural Heritage Reserve management can help guide the sustainable use of the reserve's resources, whatever their identity and economic vocation. In addition, they ensure development with a focus on social, economic, and environmental concerns, as proposed in the 2030 Agenda. This study aims to investigate the relationship between the SDGs and the Brazilian PNHR management proposals, identifying the relevance and role of the PNHR in meeting the proposed goals by the year 2030. The study surveyed 142 PNHRs using a structured questionnaire in which their representatives assessed the level of relevance of the 17 SDGs regarding environmental conditions and local reality. The analysis compared the data concerning biomes and geographic region; cluster analysis was performed to observe similar responses, and principal component analysis to verify the relative importance between the scores assigned to the SDGs. The study created graphs based on the motivations for creating and using the PNHR. The PNHR showed alignment with the fulfillment of SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 15 (Life on Earth), and SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being). All respondents recognize discussions about the environment and sustainable development allied to nature conservation as a priority for achieving the SDGs. It is possible to recognize the importance of strengthening a space for coexistence between the local population and the PNHR to implement regular and transformative actions in favor of conservation and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inclusion of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in climate mitigation pathways is critical and can be reached by assessing their consequences through the deployment of appropriate indicators to that end. Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) are important tools for understanding possible impacts caused by adopting new policies. We investigate terrestrial biodiversity trends (life on land: SDG 15) for three different climate mitigation scenarios for Brazil: (1) A scenario compatible with a world that maintains its current policies with current deforestation rates in the Amazon and the Cerrado biomes; (2) A scenario in which Brazil fulfils its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC); and (3) A scenario compatible with a world that limits warming to 1.5°C. We use the Brazilian Land-Use and Energy System model (BLUES), a national IAM, to show the implications of the transitions involved in the above-mentioned scenarios for the country up to 2050. We conduct a post-processing analysis using consolidated biodiversity indicators to emphasize how different IAM greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions mitigation solutions present distinct positive and negative potential impacts on biodiversity in Brazil. However, our analysis does not consider the impacts associated with climate change, but only the risks imposed by mitigation policies. Our results indicate that biodiversity loss decreases in the scenarios from (1) to (3), implying that stronger climate change mitigation actions could result in smaller biodiversity losses. We conclude that Brazil has the opportunity to align its biodiversity and climate goals through nature-based solutions (NBS), such as forest conservation, restoration, pasture recovery, and the use of crop-pasture and agroforestry systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of mitigation measures adopted in a scheme of EIA follow-up by examining their performance in reducing geo-environmental impacts in earthwork activities during the Rodoanel southern section construction in São Paulo, Brazil. This environment is fragile in terms of affected watersheds because the highway crosses two important reservoirs that supply most of the metropolitan water demand. Therefore, this research also aims at promoting water quality control. Design/methodology/approach – This study combines complementary sources as evidences in the literature and field checks, tests and monitoring. The methodology was supported by criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of mitigation measures in the case study approach. Findings – The EIA follow-up activities contributed to the maintenance of environmental conditions in the majority of the control points at the end of the construction phase. Water quality parameters were not statistically different before and during the construction of the highway. The choice and arrangement of mitigation measures were successful in ensuring water quality control by avoiding siltation. Practical implications – A robust scheme for designing and evaluating mitigation measures contributes to the improvement of their effectiveness and is pivotal to the success of the EIA follow-up. Originality/value – This case study serves as an example for extending EIA follow-up practice in special to the improvement of the design and evaluation of mitigation measures in similar contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reconciling climate and socioeconomic goals is a significant challenge in the developing world. Improving living standards is imperative. However, if emerging middle-classes in developing countries mirror current western consumption patterns, the chances of stabilizing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at safe atmospheric concentration levels will undoubtedly be reduced. In this sense, the mitigation potential of changing consumption patterns has been increasingly acknowledged. A growing body of literature explores what new consumption patterns might look like, along with their potential contribution to reducing emissions. This paper simulates shifts in household behaviour using a macroeconomic framework. We apply a hybrid computable general equilibrium model with six representative household groups to simulate exploratory scenarios for the Brazilian economy up to 2050. In the reference scenario, household demand is defined by current trends and standards. Consumption patterns converge among income groups, leading to major increases in demand for energy, transportation, consumer goods and services, especially for poorer households. This scenario is contrasted with an alternative pathway in which households seek a less carbon-intensive lifestyle. Our results indicate that a major gap in consumption levels and associated emissions between the poorest and richest households persists in the long run. We also show that sustainable practices contribute to significantly reducing energy-related GHG emissions with minor variations in GDP, employment and income distribution. Key policy insights There is a comprehensive portfolio of consumer strategies that can contribute to lowering the GHG emissions intensity of consumption at the household level in Brazil. Through a dematerialized consumption profile, households can contribute to mitigating up to 17% of energy-related GHG emissions compared to a reference projection in 2050. Emissions reduction can be achieved with minor economic losses. Impacts on employment are less than on GDP, since there is a structural shift towards labour-intensive sectors, namely services. However, this comes at the expense of a rise in price levels, given that higher wages lead to an increase in production costs. Per capita emissions from energy use are significantly higher for wealthier households, compared to poorer ones. Therefore, the greatest opportunities for decarbonizing consumption reside in policy interventions that target upper income groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the rise of the BASIC bloc of emerging economies (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) and its influence in pursuing the adoption of an international agreement on climate change acceptable for all countries. It first questions the mere existence of BASIC as a negotiation group. Indeed, whereas the BASIC bloc is now a reality, BASIC countries do not formally want to be distinguished from the Global South. The study tries to explain this equivocal matter of fact by decoding the perimeter and dynamics of BASIC. It also analyses what would be a balanced outcome of climate change negotiations from BASIC's point of view, through the three challenges any future agreement will have to take up, namely legitimacy, equity and effectiveness. It appears that BASIC may be considered in a transitive phase regarding the climate change issue. BASIC countries seem to want more power but to fear responsibilities. Therefore, they find it much more comfortable to experience their evolving status as parts of a group of other growing actors of international climate negotiations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Integrated assessment models are extensively used in the analysis of climate change mitigation and are informing national decision makers as well as contribute to international scientific assessments. This paper conducts a comprehensive review of techno-economic assumptions in the electricity sector among fifteen different global and national integrated assessment models. Particular focus is given to six major economies in the world: Brazil, China, the EU, India, Japan and the US. The comparison reveals that techno-economic characteristics are quite different across integrated assessment models, both for the base year and future years. It is, however, important to recognize that techno-economic assessments from the literature exhibit an equally large range of parameters as the integrated assessment models reviewed. Beyond numerical differences, the representation of technologies also differs among models, which needs to be taken into account when comparing numerical parameters. While desirable, it seems difficult to fully harmonize techno-economic parameters across a broader range of models due to structural differences in the representation of technology. Therefore, making techno-economic parameters available in the future, together with of the technology representation as well as the exact definitions of the parameters should become the standard approach as it allows an open discussion of appropriate assumptions. Highlights • Comparison of technology representation and techno-economic parameters of 15 IAMs. • Structural differences in representing technology in IAMs are identified. • Methods of projecting techno-economic parameters differ across IAMs. • Strict harmonization of techno-economic parameters across models is difficult. • Recommendation to publish techno-economic parameters and technology representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • Specialisation at national level hampers mitigation-adaptation integration. • Local actors prioritize climate adaptation but lack of influence hinders action. • Decentralisation affects cross-level power differentials in land and climate domains. • Dominant national level communities exclude localities from policy decisions. Abstract This article proposes an innovative theoretical framework that combines institutional and policy network approaches to study multi-level governance. The framework is used to derive a number of propositions on how cross-level power imbalances shape communication and collaboration across multiple levels of governance. The framework is then applied to examine the nature of cross-level interactions in climate change mitigation and adaptation policy processes in the land use sectors of Brazil and Indonesia. The paper identifies major barriers to cross-level communication and collaboration between national and sub-national levels. These are due to power imbalances across governance levels that reflect broader institutional differences between federal and decentralized systems of government. In addition, powerful communities operating predominantly at the national level hamper cross-level interactions. The analysis also reveals that engagement of national level actors is more extensive in the mitigation and that of local actors in the adaptation policy domain, and specialisation in one of the climate change responses at the national level hampers effective climate policy integration in the land use sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The questionnaire assessed environmental awareness and knowledge about CCS technology. • The interviews were conducted using a face-to-face approach. • A structured research was employed using an ordinal qualitative scale. • Respondents were aware of the climate change. • Climate change mitigation actions are not a priority for respondents. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is considered an important option to mitigate climate change. However, the success of the new technology does not only depend on engineering practices and techniques but also involves social, political, and economic factors, as well as public acceptance. The discussion about CCS in Brazil is recent and few papers addressing Brazilian public perception and engagement with CCS were found. In this sense, this paper aims to analyze the environmental awareness about climate change and the citizens' perception of CCS technology. A public perception survey was conducted with 800 people in two Brazilian cities. Descriptive statistical techniques combined with hypothesis tests were performed to depict the results and to verify associations between different demographic groups to climate change issues and support for the development of CCS technology in Brazil. The results show that the public is aware of climate change and its consequences. However, despite public support for governmental development and investments in CCS technology, investments to mitigate climate change are not a priority for the population. Only 2% and 5% of interviewed citizens in the cities of São Mateus and Vitória, respectively, considered investments in climate change mitigation as a priority. More than 70% of respondents considered that other social elements, as health, public safety, and job creation, should be prioritized by the Brazilian government. The results suggest that the population needs more information about CCS technology and its impacts. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2015 Paris Agreement relies on Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to outline each country's policies and plans for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To strengthen global climate action and achieve the Agreement's temperature goal, it is crucial to enhance the ambition level of NDCs every 5 years. While previous studies have explored the ambition of initial NDCs, limited research has delved into the factors driving the enhancement or lack thereof in NDCs' emission reduction plans. This study employs a mixed-method design to investigate the determinants of NDC enhancement. First, we analyse the updated or revised NDCs of 111 countries using quantitative methods. Second, we conduct qualitative case studies focusing on Brazil and South Africa. Our findings reveal that countries that engaged in stakeholder consultations with civil society, business, and labour groups prior to developing their updated or revised NDCs were more likely to enhance their greenhouse gas reduction targets. These results are further supported by the case studies. South Africa conducted comprehensive consultations and submitted an enhanced GHG target, while Brazil, which did not arrange open consultations, did not improve its target. This study underscores the significance of comprehensive and transparent stakeholder engagement processes, highlighting their potential to drive enhanced NDCs. By involving diverse stakeholders, including civil society, business, and labour groups, countries can foster greater ambition and effectiveness in their climate action, ultimately contributing to the global effort to combat climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characterization of regrowing forests is vital for understanding forest dynamics to assess the impacts on carbon stocks and to support sustainable forest management. Although remote sensing is a key tool for understanding and monitoring forest dynamics, the use of exclusively remotely sensed data to explore the effects of different variables on regrowing forests across all biomes in Brazil has rarely been investigated. Here, we analyzed how environmental and human factors affect regrowing forests. Based on Brazil's secondary forest age map, 3060 locations disturbed between 1984 and 2018 were sampled, interpreted and analyzed in different biomes. We interpreted the time since disturbance for the sampled pixels in Google Earth Engine. Elevation, slope, climatic water deficit (CWD), the total Nitrogen of soil, cation exchange capacity (CEC) of soil, surrounding tree cover, distance to roads, distance to settlements and fire frequency were analyzed in their importance for predicting aboveground biomass (AGB) and tree cover derived from global forest aboveground biomass map and tree cover map, respectively. Results show that time since disturbance interpreted from satellite time series is the most important predictor for characterizing AGB and tree cover of regrowing forests. AGB increased with increasing time since disturbance, surrounding tree cover, soil total N, slope, distance to roads, distance to settlements and decreased with larger fire frequency, CWD and CEC of soil. Tree cover increased with larger time since disturbance, soil total N, surrounding tree cover, distance to roads, distance to settlements, slope and decreased with increasing elevation and CWD. These results emphasize the importance of remotely sensing products as key opportunities to improve the characterization of forest regrowth and to reduce data gaps and uncertainties related to forest carbon sink estimation. Our results provide a better understanding of regional forest dynamics, toward developing and assessing effective forest‐related restoration and climatic mitigation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fragmented tropical forest landscapes preserve much of the remaining biodiversity and carbon stocks. Climate change is expected to intensify droughts and increase fire hazard and fire intensities, thereby causing habitat deterioration, and losses of biodiversity and carbon stock losses. Understanding the trajectories that these landscapes may follow under increased climate pressure is imperative for establishing strategies for conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Here, we used a quantitative predictive modelling approach to project the spatial distribution of the aboveground biomass density (AGB) by the end of the 21st century across the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (AF) domain. To develop the models, we used the maximum entropy method with projected climate data to 2100, based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 from the fifth Assessment Report. Our AGB models had a satisfactory performance (area under the curve > 0.75 and p value <.05). The models projected a significant increase of 8.5% in the total carbon stock. Overall, the projections indicated that 76.9% of the AF domain would have suitable climatic conditions for increasing biomass by 2100 considering the RCP 4.5 scenario, in the absence of deforestation. Of the existing forest fragments, 34.7% are projected to increase their AGB, while 2.6% are projected to have their AGB reduced by 2100. The regions likely to lose most AGB—up to 40% compared to the baseline—are found between latitudes 13° and 20° south. Overall, although climate change effects on AGB vary latitudinally for the 2071–2100 period under the RCP 4.5 scenario, our model indicates that AGB stocks can potentially increase across a large fraction of the AF. The patterns found here are recommended to be taken into consideration during the planning of restoration efforts, as part of climate change mitigation strategies in the AF and elsewhere in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using policy cycle model as a heuristic, this article studies Indian, Brazilian, and South African engagement with Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) by (a) comparing NAMA policy process and (b) identifying factors driving or limiting the framework’s domestic application. India largely remained uninterested in NAMAs, Brazil aligned its domestic climate policy and NAMAs, while South Africa had a more nuanced engagement when formulating NAMAs. Four factors influenced these countries’ NAMA engagements: the level and necessity of international support, the availability of domestic policy provisions to tackle climate change, the domestic institutional capacity to coordinate interministerial functioning, and the role of individuals in the institutional apparatus. As an international climate policy framework, studying NAMA engagement provides learnings for nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement for designing the instrument, ensuring clarity on support provisions for ratcheting up ambitions, and enhancing institutional capacity, to expedite transition from policy formulation to implementation and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the historical drivers and barriers of three mitigation actions in Brazil: the expansion of no-till agriculture, reduction of deforestation, and increased displacement of gasoline with ethanol. The characteristics of these three economic changes align with evolutionary economic theories rather than neoclassical or environmental economics. Despite its cost-effectiveness, diffusion of no-till agriculture was contingent on social learning and flows of information within the agricultural regime. Brazil’s success in reducing deforestation rates was driven not by policies that changed the microeconomic calculation of farmers, but by command-and-control policies on deforestation enabled through landscape shifts. Brazil’s ethanol biofuels industry emerged due to both niche level innovation of ethanol production systems and pure-ethanol vehicles, and shifts at the landscape level that enabled mandated fuel blends, public procurement programmes, and public investment in R&D. These three economic changes correspond with the categories of reproduction, transformation and transition, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brazil is trying to identify ways to ally economic growth with climate change mitigation. Productivity gains in livestock have been pointed out as a promising alternative to achieve that goal. Thus, this paper analyses the economic impacts of a policy of productivity gains in the Brazilian livestock. Besides, we evaluate if the policy may conciliate agricultural growth and deforestation control, bearing in mind the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from land-use changes. The analysis was carried out through a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, tailored to represent land-use changes, GHG emissions and removals. Besides, it made progress modeling the heterogeneity of climate, soils, and emissions in inter-regional models with many regions. The results show that productivity gains can effectively “save” land and thus avoid deforestation, especially in the Amazon and Cerrado (savannah) biomes. The policy also may boost the economic growth, spreading it to other regions of Brazil, like Centre-West and North, and increasing income and consumption in those places. However, as a climate policy, focused on the reduction of GHG emissions, the results may be counterproductive. The net amount issued may increase, as a result of the positive stimulus of the policy on the economy, and GHG emissions are directly related to the economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services have emphasised unequivocal evidences about the impact of human actions on climate and biodiversity at alarming rates. In Brazilian terms, 2019 has been marked by controversial discussions among politicians and environmentalists, leading to misinformation and misinterpretations that clearly motivate the continuous collection and scientific analysis of data to support sustainable solutions. Aiming at dealing with this issue, this manuscript brings two contributions: (i) the creation of the Brazilian Forest Dataset, including Brazilian seed plants, Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation, meteorological and geographical data composing 8,482 attributes to model and predict 20 vegetation types; and (ii) the feasibility analysis on modelling this dataset in light of supervised machine learning algorithms, so we devise confident results on the Brazilian biodiversity. Experimental results confirm Random Forest and Support Vector Machines successfully adjust models, enabling researchers to predict the occurrence of specific types of vegetation in different regions of Brazil as well as analyse how the prediction accuracy changes along time after the collection of new data. Our contributions bring important tools to support the study on the evolution of the Brazilian biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land‐use change (LUC)‐related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions determine largely whether bioenergy is a suitable option for climate change mitigation. This study assesses how LUC emissions influence demand for bioenergy to mitigate GHG emissions, and how this affects the energy mix, using Brazil as a case study. A methodological framework is applied linking bioenergy supply curves, with associated costs and spatially explicit LUC emissions, to a bottom‐up energy system model. Furthermore, the influence of four key determining parameters is assessed: agricultural productivity, time horizon, natural succession (NS), and the use of dynamic emission factors (EFs). Demand for new bioenergy plantations range from 0.5 to 6.7 EJ in 2050, and is avoided when its EF reaches above 15 kg CO2/GJbiomass. Dynamic EFs result in earlier and larger use of bioenergy. Static EFs attenuate all emissions evenly over time, resulting in relative high emissions around 2050 when the carbon budget is most stringent. This in contrast to dynamic EFs, having early high peaks because of clearance of natural vegetation, but relatively small long‐term emissions when the carbon budget is most stringent. Exclusion of NS, in combination with spared agricultural land, results in a demand of 6.7 EJ, because of its low carbon penalty. Assuming that land is spared due to continuous yield increase (which is the reason to include NS as and EF component), bypasses the fact that yield improvements (that make those lands available) take place because of demand for bioenergy. When low‐carbon biomass is in limited availability, increasing electrification is observed, leading to electric capacity increase of 62% (mainly wind and solar energy), and a 12% energy system costs increase. Inclusion of spatiotemporal explicit supply potential and LUC emissions leads to improved bioenergy deployment pathways that come closer to the real situation as the dynamic nature of LUC emissions is included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The usefulness of global integrated assessment model (IAM) results for policy recommendation in specific regions has not been fully assessed to date. This study presents the variation in results across models for a given region, and what might be behind this variation and how model assumptions and structures drive results. Understanding what drives the differences across model results is important for national policy relevance of global scenarios. We focus on the use of bioenergy in Brazil, a country expected to play an important role in future bioenergy production. We use results of the Stanford University Energy Modeling Forum's 33rd Study (EMF-33) model comparison exercise to compare and assess projections of Brazil's bioenergy pathways under climate mitigation scenarios to explore how 10 global IAMs compare to recent trends in the country. We find that, in their current form, global IAMs have limited potential to supply robust insights into regional mitigation strategies. Our results suggest fertile ground for a new research agenda to improve regional representation in global IAMs with improved spatial and technological resolutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents the results of the EX-Ante Carbon-balance Tool (EX-ACT) application on two rural development projects in Brazil. The analysis provides an estimate of project impact on GHG emissions and C sequestration indicating net mitigation potential: results show that the Santa Catarina Rural Competitiveness Project has the potential to mitigate 12.2Mt CO2e and the Rio de Janeiro Sustainable Rural Development Project 0.85Mt CO2e. Both projects are successful at promoting activities aimed at reducing rural poverty and also contribute to climate change mitigation, demonstrating the potential importance of sustainable agriculture (improved cropland and grassland management, expansion of agro-forestry systems and protection of forested areas) in delivering environmental services. EX-ACT has also been used as a tool to guide project developers in refining components and activities to increase project environmental benefits. Cost–benefit analysis shows that while both projects generate environmental benefits associated with climate change mitigation, the Santa Catarina Rural Competitiveness Project has significantly higher potential due to the size of the project area and the nature of activities, thus a higher likelihood of potential co-financing from climate finance sources. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

There is an urgent need for more information about the climate change impact on health in order to strengthen the commitment to tackle climate change. However, few studies have quantified the health impact of climate change in Brazil and in the Latin America region. In this paper, we projected the impacts of temperature on cardiovascular (CVD) mortality according to two climate change scenarios and two regionalized climate model simulations in Brazilian cities. We estimated the temperature-CVD mortality relationship in 21 Brazilian cities, using distributed lag non-linear models in a two-stage time-series analysis. We combined the observed exposure-response functions with the daily temperature projected under two representative concentration pathways (RCP), RCP8.5 and RCP4.5, and two regionalized climate model simulations, Eta-HadGEM2-ES and Eta-MIROC5. We observed a trend of reduction in mortality related to low temperatures and a trend of increase in mortality related to high temperatures, according to all the investigated models and scenarios. In most places, the increase in mortality related to high temperatures outweighed the reduction in mortality related to low temperatures, causing a net increase in the excess temperature-related mortality. These trends were steeper according to the higher emission scenario, RCP8.5, and to the Eta-HadGEM2-ES model. According to RCP8.5, our projections suggested that the temperature-related mortality fractions in 2090-99 compared to 2010–2019 would increase by 8.6% and 1.7%, under Eta-HadGEM2-ES and Eta-MIROC5, respectively. According to RCP4.5, these values would be 0.7% and −0.6%. For the same climate model, we observed a greater increase trend in temperature-CVD mortality according to RCP8.5, highlighting a greater health impact associated with the higher emission scenario. Our results may be useful to support public policies and strategies for mitigation of and adaptation to climate change, particularly in the health sector. • We estimated climate change impacts on temperature-CVD mortality in Brazil. • The projections showed a reduction in CVD mortality related to low temperatures. • The projections showed an increase in CVD mortality related to high temperatures. • We found a net increase in temperature-related mortality in most cities. • A greater health impact was associated with the higher emission scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Brazilian açaí industry reached national and international prominence in the last few years. Its final product, mainly frozen pulp, became popular worldwide, accounting for a high market share, including exports. Nevertheless, the solid by‐products arising from the processing are not always discarded in an environmentally suitable manner. This review presents a scientometric analysis of açaí research in the last 27 years (1993 to 2019), applying a longitudinal bibliometric study. Through data analysis, it can be observed that Brazil and the USA are the countries that mostly contributed to the development of açaí research. Although Brazil has more publications, the USA presents more articles in partnership with 21 countries. The results also showed that few documents addressed renewable energy recovery with the following technologies: combustion, pyrolysis, supercritical water hydrolysis, and anaerobic digestion. Further analysis of the anaerobic digestion of the totality of açaí seeds generated in Brazil indicated that, theoretically, the electric energy from biogas burning could supply the whole frozen pulp industry requirement with an additional surplus for sales to the grid. Hence, electricity replacement contributes to greenhouse gas mitigation. The assessment of the potential electric energy generation illustrates how technological integration can be an innovative way to rethink the açaí production chain using a circular economy concept. Moreover, the technological advances could stimulate sustainable agro‐industrial intensification in areas such as the Legal Amazon, considered a hotspot for climate change mitigation. © 2021 Society of Industrial Chemistry and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mangroves have among the highest carbon densities of any tropical forest. These 'blue carbon' ecosystems can store large amounts of carbon for long periods, and their protection reduces greenhouse gas emissions and supports climate change mitigation. Incorporating mangroves into Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement and their valuation on carbon markets requires predicting how the management of different land‐uses can prevent future greenhouse gas emissions and increase CO2 sequestration. We integrated comprehensive global datasets for carbon stocks, mangrove distribution, deforestation rates, and land‐use change drivers into a predictive model of mangrove carbon emissions. We project emissions and foregone soil carbon sequestration potential under 'business as usual' rates of mangrove loss. Emissions from mangrove loss could reach 2391 Tg CO2 eq by the end of the century, or 3392 Tg CO2 eq when considering foregone soil carbon sequestration. The highest emissions were predicted in southeast and south Asia (West Coral Triangle, Sunda Shelf, and the Bay of Bengal) due to conversion to aquaculture or agriculture, followed by the Caribbean (Tropical Northwest Atlantic) due to clearing and erosion, and the Andaman coast (West Myanmar) and north Brazil due to erosion. Together, these six regions accounted for 90% of the total potential CO2 eq future emissions. Mangrove loss has been slowing, and global emissions could be more than halved if reduced loss rates remain in the future. Notably, the location of global emission hotspots was consistent with every dataset used to calculate deforestation rates or with alternative assumptions about carbon storage and emissions. Our results indicate the regions in need of policy actions to address emissions arising from mangrove loss and the drivers that could be managed to prevent them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through its NDC, Brazil pledged to reduce its GHG emissions by 43% below 2005 levels in 2030, respectively. Carbon pricing could play a key role in meeting this objective. However, a range of issues can emerge when introducing it. Among these issues, the distributional impact has been frequently highlighted as an obstacle to the public acceptance of such a mitigation policy. This paper examines the short-run welfare and emission effects of an economy-wide carbon tax on Brazilian households. The distributional impact is examined by estimating the tax burden relative to annual expenditures and changes in total GHG emissions across income levels, using tax rates consistent with the Paris Agreement and considering a lump-sum rebate that keeps the government revenue neutral. For this, we calculate energy-related GHG emissions coefficients from fossil fuel burning for the whole household consumption basket, and price and expenditure elasticities which account for the zero-expenditure and underdeclaration problems. Our results indicate that the incidence of the carbon tax is effective in reducing emissions in the short run, but imposes welfare losses, especially on the poor. The consideration of compensation mechanisms is critical when designing this type of environmental tax, specially in the context of a highly complex tax-system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assessed the influence of the intertidal and salinity gradients and mangrove forest structure on C stocks and sequestration rates in mangrove soils of an estuarine system in Todos os Santos Bay, Eastern Brazil. The accumulation rates of organic C (Corg) during the last century varied between and within estuarine zones, ranging from 65 to 1073 g Corg m−2 yr−1. The mean stocks of Corg and N for the top 1 m soils were 263 ± 14 Mg Corg ha−1 and 11.8 ± 0.4 Mg N ha−1, respectively. We found a less variable distribution pattern on Corg and N stocks throughout the salinity gradient than along the intertidal gradient, being significantly higher at the fringe mangroves than at the interior forest. We estimated that Brazil, one of the major reservoirs of mangroves (~ 10%) on the planet, has 207 ± 34 Tg Corg in the upper meter of soils, which represents 3–8% of the C stored in mangrove soils globally. Given that Brazil is a Blue Carbon hotspot, it is emphasized the urgent need for the establishment of better mangrove conservation practices and a comprehensive evaluation of their value in climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies for reducing CO2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of no‐till (NT) has been proposed to recover soil organic carbon (SOC), which will aid the mitigation of climate change. However, studies have questioned the potential of NT soils to deliver SOC sequestration and sustain crop yields. No‐till experiments are relatively recent (<50 years) and very few studies were able to assess SOC dynamics in high‐yield agroecosystems. We used the DSSAT‐CENTURY model to predict long‐term SOC (0–30 cm) using datasets from two experiments assessing tillage and nitrogen (N) sources in a Mollisol from the midwest United States (28 years) and tillage and crop rotations in an Oxisol from southern Brazil (33 years). The conversion of prairie and grassland soils to conventional agriculture decreased SOC by 61 and 12% in the Mollisol and Oxisol, respectively. Soil organic C accrual in NT soils was >0.5 Mg C ha−1 year−1 under medium‐low‐yield maize in the Mollisol and negligible in the Oxisol under soybean/wheat rotation. Organic fertilization and crop rotation increased SOC accrual at both sites. Simulated SOC had good agreement with observations for NT soils but overestimated SOC in tilled soils. The model's parameters were then modified for tilled soils. Long‐term simulations (100 years) revealed that SOC accrual in NT soils (0–15 cm) is partially offset by losses at 15–30 cm under low C inputs. Simulations with best crop management practices (BP; irrigation, high‐yield cultivars, higher plant density and improved N fertilization) augmented C inputs and SOC stocks, ultimately recovering SOC to the levels of prairie soils. Our results suggest that the adoption of NT, recycling of organic fertilizers and the use of BP should be further promoted for recovery and permanence of SOC in agricultural soils. Highlights: Studies have questioned the potential of conservation agriculture (CA) to deliver SOC sequestration and sustain crop yields.We used the DSSAT‐CENTURY model to simulate SOC dynamics in temperate and subtropical soils.No‐till under moderate C/N inputs recovered topsoil SOC, but subsurface losses offset SOC accrual.Use of CA, organic amendments and best practice crop management (BP) is crucial for long‐term SOC storage and permanence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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• The global production network framework is a helpful heuristic device to understand how environmental governance emerges within forest landscape restoration practices. • Forest landscape restoration in Brazil responds to a multi-scalar governance network connecting disparate actors through constructed demands. • While community organisations have influenced the nature and structure of the restoration network in the Amazon, they are subservient to the governance exerted by ultimate buyers of ecosystem services. • Although some restoration drivers are vulnerable to domestic political change, the dispersed nature of network governance should be strategically pursued as it enhances network resilience. Over the last few decades, numerous initiatives have advanced forest landscape restoration in the Amazon, and in 2015 the Brazilian government set an ambitious, still-valid, target to restore 4.8 million hectares of degraded Amazonian land by 2030. This has contributed to an emergent global restoration network that connects multiple stakeholders and processes for funding, implementing and monitoring restoration actions in such a way that prepares various ecosystem services for market integration. The network arose in tandem with the evolution of an institutional framework that includes regulatory requirements within Brazil, global commitments linked to climate change mitigation, corporate sustainability strategies, and the growth of crowd-sourcing activism. This paper presents restoration activities as embedded within a Global Production Network (GPN) for an ecosystem service, which we use as a heuristic device to inform our understanding of emergent environmental governance structures. The resulting multi-scalar, networked mode of environmental governance is presented as a web-like structure co-created by institutional evolution, actor-specific strategies, and interactions between firms and non-firm actors. The article pays particular attention to a case study of how the restoration network manifests territorially in the Upper Xingu region of the Brazilian Amazon. Despite the strong North-South orientation of dominant funding relationships, network governance is also seen to be relational. This is evident from the dissemination of ideas, supply models and seeding techniques from Upper Xingu to other regions of Brazil. These insights could be applied to improve landscape restoration outcomes, and indeed the provisioning of ecosystem services more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The income and pollution relationship is widely debated in the literature, but income alone cannot control emissions, and that requires environmental regulation measures. Even though weak environmental regulations may offset market failures caused by negative externality of pollution, investigation of their role in the control of environmental pollution is of prime importance. To better understand the role of environmental regulations in carbon emissions mitigation, this study takes a step to offers a new perspective on the role of environmental regulations in pollution reduction for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. To this end, the study employs panel data econometric tools for data spanning from 1995 to 2016. Besides, the study conducts fully modified ordinary least squares estimator to get country‐wise results. Empirical results confirm the positive role of environmental regulations in carbon emission mitigation, and the current environmental control measures are successful in achieving pollution reduction targets in the sample countries. Environmental regulations help in establishing the inverted U‐shaped relationship between income and pollution. Climate change mitigation in BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) countries is not associated with economic development only but driven by effective environmental regulations as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Transportation subsector has gained a relevant role being now the largest contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the energy sector, which is currently the largest sector contributor in Brazil. To analyze future scenarios and assist climate change mitigation policies, a bottom-up approach of a fleet-based tank-to-wheel (TTW) analysis on GHG emissions was conducted for light vehicles, in 2010-2040 timeframe. As the nationally determined contribution (NDC) does not define transportation targets specifically, we propose some benchmarks to serve as reference targets. Different intensity of three carbon mitigation strategies are considered: (i) fuel-efficiency improvements (such as those imposed by EU commission); (ii) biofuel increase (in 5 to 15% from the average use); and (iii) electric vehicles (EVs) diffusion (battery electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles). The results indicate an overall accomplishment in meeting those benchmarks, but some were only achieved by the assumption that policies aiming to perform such scenarios would be introduced. Biofuel increase strategy, followed by fuel-efficiency increase, provided the most relevant GHG mitigation potential. EVs diffusion strategy needs additional incentives to achieve significant impact contribution, as its market share is only slowly increasing. Further emphasis is made to the importance of strengthening and integrating different policies and strategies along with some discussion and comparison with results from other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzing the politics and policy implications in Brazil of attributing extreme weather events to climate change, we argue for greater place-based sensitivity in recommendations for how to frame extreme weather events relative to climate change. Identifying geographical limits of current recommendations to emphasize the climate role in such events, we explore Brazilian framings of the two tragic national disasters, as apparent in newspaper coverage of climate change. We find that a variety of contextual factors compel environmental leaders and scientists in Brazil to avoid and discourage highlighting the role of climate change in national extreme events. Against analysts' general deficit-finding assumptions, we argue that the Brazilian framing tendency reflects sound strategic, socio-environmental reasoning, and discuss circumstances in which attributing such events to climate change—and, by extension, attribution science—can be ineffective for policy action on climate change and other socio-environmental issues in need of public pressure and preventive action. The case study has implications beyond Brazil by begging greater attention to policies and politics in particular places before assuming that attribution science and discursive emphasis on the climate role in extreme events are the most strategic means of achieving climate mitigation and disaster preparedness. Factors at play in Brazil might also structure extreme events attribution politics in other countries, not least some other countries of the global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small-scale fisheries face similar challenges and constraints, including marginalization, spatial competition, unequal power relations, limited participation in decision-making processes, and climate stressors. We compare the vulnerability of small-scale fishing communities under pressure from climate change in the southern Cape in South Africa and the South Brazil Bight in Brazil using a standardized vulnerability framework to identify the differences and/or similarities between the fishing communities in both countries. In Brazil, high dependence on fishing and attachment to place increased the vulnerability of the fishers; in contrast, in South Africa strong dependence on markets to buy food threatened food security of the fishers. These findings provide noteworthy insights into the regional vulnerability of fishing communities in both countries; additionally, the results support the development of local climate change mitigation plans and provide examples for similar communities that are likely to experience climate stressors in other regional locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comparative analysis of several climate litigation actions that demanded positive regulatory impacts is presented. Topics covered include reasons for considering the actions in these cases as emblematic, viability of a lawsuit to oblige the state of São Paulo, Brazil to implement measures needed to comply with the guidelines for mitigating emissions of greenhouse gases as expressed in the Climate Change Policy of the State of São Paulo and cases of climate litigation.

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Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) in developing countries is based on the premise that conserving tropical forests is a cost-effective way to reduce carbon emissions and therefore can be fully funded by international actors with obligations or interests in reducing emissions. However, concerns have repeatedly been raised about whether stakeholders in REDD+ host countries will actually end up bearing the costs of REDD+. Most prior analyses of the costs of REDD+ have focused on the opportunity costs of foregone alternative uses of forest land. We draw on a pan-tropical study of 22 subnational REDD+ initiatives in five countries to explore patterns in implementation costs, including which types of organizations are involved and which are sharing the costs of implementing REDD+. We find that many organizations involved in the implementation of REDD+, particularly at the subnational level and in the public sector, are bearing implementation costs not covered by the budgets of the REDD+ initiatives. To sustain this level of cost-sharing, REDD+ must be designed to deliver local as well as global forest benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The calculation of robust estimates of future greenhouse gas emissions due to agriculture is essential to support the framing of the Brazilian climate change mitigation policy. Information on the future development of land use and land cover change (LULCC) under the combination of various driving factors operating at different spatial scale levels, e.g., local land use policy and global demands for agricultural commodities, is required. The spatially explicit land use model, LandSHIFT, was applied to calculate a set of high-resolution land use scenarios for Southern Amazonia. The time frame of the analysis was 2010-2030. Based on the generated maps, emission coefficients were applied to calculate annual NO, CH, and CO emissions from agricultural soils (croplands and pastures). The results indicate that future land use pattern and the resultant greenhouse gas emissions in Southern Amazonia will be strongly determined by global and regional demands for agricultural commodities, as well as by the level of intensification of agriculture and the implementation of conservation policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes governmental responses for the climate change challenge in China and Brazil. Both countries have a central role in the climate change debate since they are major greenhouse gases emitters, thus contributing to the aggravation of the problem, each with differentiated participation. At the same time, policy measures aimed at climate issues in these countries may lead to the reconfiguration of international negotiations on the topic. The methodological aspects include three main points of analysis: the trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions in both countries; political and institutional structures mobilized to the climate issue and focusing on mitigation and policy responses related to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study estimated a series of indicators to assess the energy security of supply and global and local environmental impacts under different mitigation scenarios through 2050 in Brazil, designed with the integrated optimization energy system model MESSAGE- BRAZIL. The assessment of interactions between environmental impacts and energy security dimensions was complemented through the application of life cycle assessment ( LCA) methodology. Overall results imply energy security establishes more synergies than trade-offs in increasingly stringent mitigation scenarios, especially patent within the sustainability dimension, which increases energy security and provides additional benefits regarding climate change mitigation and air pollution emissions. It is still necessary to extend analysis to other energy sectors in addition to the power supply sector and to promote a better understanding of repercussions of energy scenario expansion in energy security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is an enquiry into Brazil's evolving responses to global climate change norms. Following an overview of the evolution of international normative frameworks of climate change governance, I examine the relationship between some of these international norms and domestic environmental politics in Brazil. Internationally, the analysis focuses on the North/South political debate about climate change and its role in shaping understandings about the impact and responses to global warming. Domestically, I explore the evolving relationship between state and private actors in the decision-making process. I argue that Brazil's official position on climate change negotiations is currently influenced by a nationalist/developmental approach based on the particular worldview of the dominant faction within the foreign ministry and backed up by private groups, powerful sectors in the military establishment, key ministries, and the presidency. Yet, this worldview has been increasingly undermined/permeated by other state and nonstate actors, who are more closely aligned with the environmental concerns of international stakeholders. The ensuing domestic conflict has important implications for the legitimacy and coherence of the Brazilian position in international climate change negotiations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]