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This paper contributes to the study of climate change and environmental justice with a particular focus on a Global South case-study in the São Paulo Macro Metropolis of Brazil. We also aim to contribute to mandatory critical dialogue between (anticipatory) governance and environmental justice. This study focuses on the rainy seasons from 2016 to 2019. We examine the incidence of 61 extreme precipitation events, as well as 47 deaths caused by rain events, considering their location based on vulnerability indicators. The correlations among these data allow us to reveal the socio-environmental patterns within the relationships between social vulnerability and deaths caused by general rainfall and, more specifically, extreme events. Based on this, we demonstrate that current infrastructure or its lack is one of the reasons why death tolls remain due to the absence of anticipatory governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the buildings sector requires a full understanding of the factors influencing emissions over the life-cycle of buildings, particularly in places where large additions to the building stock are expected. Currently, little is known about what affects the GHG emissions of buildings located in warmer climates, a typical situation for many emerging economies. This paper presents a study of emissions from Brazilian office buildings using building archetypes. A sensitivity analysis explores possible parameter ranges, various contributions to life-cycle impacts and their key drivers. For each of the 1000 building variations in the sample, the emissions were calculated using a life-cycle assessment. Multivariate regression analysis enabled the study of the results' sensitivity to 10 parameters, influencing building operation, design and others. The emissions ranged from 20 to 106 kg CO2-eq/m² gross floor area and year. Electricity mix, climate and cooling efficiency were the most impactful parameters, but building component service time was also significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is a complex and uncertain global problem because it is driven by human behavior, with long-term climate-related risks for natural and human systems. Changes in human behavior, financing flow, policy instruments, and multilevel governance are needed for mitigating and managing major climate risks. Understanding the social dimensions of climate change is, quite literally, a hot topic to be studied. Most of the scientific literature in the field is focused on the 'hard science'. Different methods of theory building are used in applied social sciences. However, the use of the grounded theory approach in sustainability research, specially on 'soft science' in the fi eld of climate change, is scarce. The intent of this paper is to discussion the use of the grounded theory method in an emergent research fi eld that combines governance and climate change. The article presents substantive results of an emerging theoretical framework that explain the governance process of REDD+ in Brazil, an United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) climate fi nance mechanism focused on mitigating forest-related emissions in developing countries. Instead of discussing best procedures and techniques to build grounded theory, which are largely accessed through several peer-reviewed publications, our focus is to provide a practical guide and discuss lessons learned from the fi eld to integrate the 'REDD+ Governance Theoretical Framework'. Thus, scholars and graduate students are encourage to test and validate (or not) the emerging theoretical framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper evaluates the contribution of 75 Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects for technology transfer initiatives and for promotion of adoption of cleaner technologies. A documentary content analysis model was developed to acquire secondary data from the 75 Project Design Documents. Technology transfer as a benefit has only 28% share and not more than 21% of the projects led to implementation of cleaner technologies. In conclusion, CDM projects in Brazil have not encouraged a cleaner model of development through cooperation among industrialized and developing countries, as they were expected to do. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper contributes to the literature that analyses the determinants and measurement of Technological Capabilities (TCs) with empirical evidence on Argentina, Brazil and Chile. Based on the World Bank''s Investment Climate database, the study covers firms from the manufacturing sector. We first construct a Capability Score to provide a preliminary measure of Technological Capabilities at the firm level. We then test it econometrically to explore the determinants of TCs and exports and evaluate their reciprocal relationship through a Two Stage Probit. Our results show that exports and TCs significantly and positively influence each other in some of these countries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]