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Copyright of Sustainability in Debate / Sustentabilidade em Debate is the property of University of Brasilia, Center for Sustainable Development and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper estimates the genuine progress indicator (GPI) for the state of Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil, from 2002 to 2016 as an alternative indicator to the gross domestic product (GDP). Methodological approach was based on GPI 2.0 (Talberth in EE 142:1–11, 2017) with necessary adjustments due to geographical and biological specificities and currency conversions. For the calculations, primary and secondary data sources were consulted, both from public agencies and private institutions. Three main results were clearly observed: (1) the relation GPI/GDP fluctuated between 22 and 31% in the period 2002–2016; (2) even with a decline in Rio de Janeiro GDP from 2014 to 2016, due to Brazilian economic crisis, the GPI still increased in those years and (3) despite this continuous growth of GPI, its average yearly growth rate was 7,95%, while GDP, even with its 2014–2016 decrease, showed a higher average growth rate of 9,30% per year. Results also show that public policies in RJ should focus on jobs creation, investments in renewable energy and improving public transport, actions that are related to variables that, proportionally, most negatively affected the GPI. On the other hand, policies aiming to preserve vegetation cover should be intensified, since services of protected natural capital were the ones that contributed most positively to the indicator. This approach aims to increase GPI in the state and, consequently, improve the quality of life of the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facing up to the COVID-19 crisis has emphasized the importance of taking a critical and systemic look at business action for sustainability. The aims of this article are: to discuss sustainability, through the theoretical lenses of 'strong' and 'weak' sustainability and its relationship with economic paradigms; to present the theory of resilience as an alternative to the current challenges; and, based on the concepts presented, to analyze the indications of how organizations are reacting to the crisis. To this end, semi-structured interviews were conducted with companies operating in Brazil. As a result it was found that signs of the realignment of the companies' initial purpose of creating value for society coexist alongside signs of continued investment in market-based solutions and the search for infinite growth on a planet with limited resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing fishing effort has caused declines in shark populations worldwide. Understanding biological and ecological characteristics of sharks is essential to effectively implement management measures, but to fully understand drivers of fishing pressure social factors must be considered through multidisciplinary and integrated approaches. The present study aimed to use fisher and trader knowledge to describe the shark catch and product supply chain in Northeastern Brazil, and evaluate perceptions regarding the regional conservation status of shark species. Non-systematic observations and structured individual interviews were conducted with experienced fishers and traders. The demand and economic value of shark fins has reportedly decreased over the last 10 years while the shark meat trade has increased slightly, including a small increase in the average price per kilogram of meat. Several threatened shark species were reportedly often captured off shore and traded at local markets. This reported and observed harvest breaches current Brazilian environmental laws. Fishing communities are aware of population declines of several shark species, but rarely take action to avoid capture of sharks. The continuing capture of sharks is mainly due to a lack of knowledge of environmental laws, lack of enforcement by responsible authorities, and difficulties encountered by fishers in finding alternative income streams. National and regional conservation measures are immediately required to reduce overfishing on shark populations in Northeastern Brazil. Social and economic improvements for poor fishing communities must also be implemented to achieve sustainable fisheries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Brazilian Journal of Biology is the property of Instituto Internacional de Ecologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study employed the Economic Theory (ET) to calculate the production costs and the Emergy Methodology (EM) to identify the contributions of nature and economy of lambs produced in an intensive system located in Cravinhos city, State of São Paulo. In addition, was employed Emergy Methodology (EM) to identify the contributions of nature and economy in the system. The adopted scheme of cost allocation followed the classification according to ET, under Variable Cost (VC), Operational Fixed Cost (FC), Opportunity Costs of land and capital (OC), and Total Cost (TC). The EM manages to quantify all the resources used in the system in Contributions from Nature (I) and Feedback from the economy (F). The I originate from the Sum of Renewable (R) and Non-renewable (N) local resources, while that F is composed of the Materials (M) and Services (S) from the economic system. We found that to produce 935 lambs per year the TC was US$ 96,021.08. VC represented 19.08% of TC, while 76.6% were represented by FC, and 4.3% by the IF. The cost produced per animal and kg of live weight was US$ 72.73 and US$ 1.82, respectively. On the other hand, the total energy flow (Y) required by the system was 3.05E+16 seJ/yr (Solar Joules per year) for produce (Ep) 1.68E+06J/yr (Joules per year). Y was represented in a 53.92% by I (7.98% for R, from the sun, rain, and wind; and 45.94% for N, from the soil loss and groundwater), and 46,08% by F (27.8% for M, from the feed, minerals, steel, fueled, etc. and 10.7% for S, from manpower, other services external, taxes, etc.). These results show that the studied system has a %Renewability (%R = R / Y) of 7.98%. Thus, we can conclude that the system depends on 92.02% of resources from non-renewable sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) for Brazil from 1970 to 2010 as an alternative indicator to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). After a growing disparity between these two indicators in the 1980s, when Brazil's per capita GPI featured a 35% decline, there was a relative catch-up in per capita GPI, but not one sufficiently strong enough to reduce the historical GPI–GDP gap. The recent trend of rapidly increasing environmental and social costs, along with the decline in unpaid labour and infrastructure services, poses concerns about the sustainability of an increasing GPI for Brazil into the future. Policies aimed at reducing environmental costs are necessary if Brazil is to enjoy a sustainable pattern of non-declining economic welfare. Brazil must pursue a higher rate of productivity in material and energy consumption in order to keep environmental pressures to a minimum level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Brasileira de Biociencias is the property of Revista Brasileira de Biociencias and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) have become a popular instrument in the last decades and this growing trend is also clearly evident in Brazil. However, challenges related to implementation of these schemes are often underestimated. Any guarantee that a payment will secure or provide such a service is subject not only to underlying ecological uncertainties but also to those entailed by the kinds of social interaction that are inherent to policy implementation. It is argued that the objectives proposed with these instruments can only be attained by ensuring a wide participation of land users. This article advances this topic reporting and discussing evidence on farmer's reasons to participate in three PES-water schemes in Brazil using a combination of qualitative and quantitative research approaches. Results indicate that the diverging opinions regarding how ecosystem services are generated or secured, decentralized governance structures and the involvement of representative bodies in scheme design and implementation are important factors to consider. Furthermore, access to information and general environmental concern were found to be important variables to explain the propensity of farmers to participate. This generates serious policy implications for developing consistent communication and consultation strategies with scheme beneficiaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to discuss the importance of using the natural resources valuation as subsidy for the implementation of charging for water use in watersheds. Furthermore, this paper presents a valuation case study, aimed at identifying and valuing ecosystem services provided by the Alto Iguaçu and Afluentes do Alto Ribeira Watersheds. The results show that the management of natural resources in due measure must incorporate the interdependence among the components of ecosystem and the economic system, providing in fact a model of Integrated Management of Natural Resources, which is lacking in Brazil and in most of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I explore the tensions and conflicts arising from the territorial re-organization of western Pará state in the Brazilian Amazon associated with the paving of the Santarém–Cuiaba highway (BR-163). I argue that the set of forces, techniques and devices that constitute Ordenamento Territorial, or Territorial Ordering, re-territorialize the region with the spatialized logic of sustainable development, constituting a ‘green grab’, or a new strategy of governance over not only territory but also territoriality – the ways of life of Amazonia's inhabitants. Analyzing the formation of the Movement in Defense of Life and Culture of the Arapiuns River, I explore how social movements are shifting their strategies in relation to these new technologies of ordering. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We consider a case of water reallocation in Brazil, one which has numerous analogs elsewhere. To permit empirical study of the effects of institutions that can facilitate or restrict allocations, we conducted field experiments to explore trust's potential when resource contracts are limited, using a novel asymmetric-productivity ultimatum game with a final surplus-sharing step added. As a form of informal institution, trust could in principle make rights and contracts unnecessary. We observe whether trust in compensation is in fact expected and expressed. We also explore whether trust is exploited, and the effect of communication, within our two bargaining structures: (1) no communication; and (2) with a non-binding message concerning the surplus to be shared. We see that our participants both expect and express trust that some of the surplus will be shared. Trust raises total output and some surplus is indeed shared: those who trust gain a bit on average; and the more trust was shown, the more was shared. However, often the trust was barely repaid. Further, the messages—found to help in other research—had little impact and were often untrue. In sum, trust does matter but both efficiency and equity could well rise with complete contracts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

An international payment for ecosystem service (IPES) schemes may be one of the only mechanisms available to stimulate the provision of vital non-marketed ecosystem services at the global level, as those nations that benefit from global ecosystem services (GES) cannot readily force other sovereign nations to provide them. Currently, international trade offers trillions of dollars in incentives for countries to convert natural capital into marketable goods and services, and few payments to entice countries to conserve natural capital in order to sustain critical non-marketed ecosystem services. We examine the biophysical characteristics of climate change and biodiversity to understand the obstacles to developing effective IPES schemes. We find that none of the existing schemes for providing GES are adequate, given the scale of the problem. A cap and auction scheme for CO2 emissions among wealthy nations could fund IPES and simultaneously deter carbon emissions. To disburse funds, we should adapt Brazil''s ICMS ecológico, and apportion available funds to targeted countries in proportion to how well they meet specific criteria designed to measure the provision of GES. Individual countries can then develop their own policies for increasing provision of these services, ensured of compensation if they do so. Indirect IPES should include funding for freely available technologies that protect or provide GES, such as the low carbon energy alternatives that will be essential for curbing climate change. Markets rely on the price mechanism to generate profits, which rations technology to those who can afford it, reducing adoption rates, innovation and total value. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The reform of water policies in Brazil has involved a combination of regulatory norms and economic-incentive instruments. Nonetheless, contrary to its formal objectives, the process has largely failed to prevent widespread environmental impacts and growing spatial and sectoral conflicts. The main reason for such failures is the perverse influence of market rationality, which is particularly evident in the reorganization of the public sector, the quantification of the monetary value of water, and the payment for environmental services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a critical look at how energy security-, food and agriculture-, and climate change-oriented international organizations frame biomass energy production in developing countries, in particular, ethanol production in Brazil. Using the world-economy system as a theoretical lens, the paper raises a concern as to whether the way these global institutions frame bioenergy's role in developing regions manifests energy and ecological inequalities between the core and the periphery, as well as creates internal contradictions that perpetuate unequal exchange embedded in the system. Simultaneously, these organizations frame Brazil as a semi-peripheral state that, while successful in finding a niche concurring with the core's demand for cheap energy and cost-effective decarbonization strategies, is not necessarily a suitable role model for the periphery's socio–economic development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Estimates of natural resource harvests often inform rural conservation and development strategies. Retrospective household surveys remain one of the most commonly employed methods for estimating harvests. Pair-wise comparisons of estimates from household surveys versus diary records were performed for household harvests in the Brazilian Amazon. Although diaries and surveys produce similar estimates of mean economic value for different product groups, 33% of product-level estimates showed a three-fold difference between methods with no consistent patterns in discrepancy direction. Significant differences in estimates for highly valued products (cash crops, game animals, and fish) together with higher respondent confidence in diaries may undermine household models based exclusively on surveys. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper studies the coevolutionary ecological–economic dynamics of agro-environmental change. The case study is Santa Rosa (Brazil) and the modernization of subsistence agriculture followed by the more recent emergence of organic farming. We use coevolution as an integrative framework for explaining how and why economic production changed over time in Santa Rosa in interdependence with the ecosystem resulting in a mosaic of diverse farm practices. A coevolutionary framework expands the explanatory breadth of prevailing accounts of agro-environmental change that rely on a notion of shifts from one singular, homogeneous production economy to the next. It unveils the complex processes driving agro-environmental change, instead of focusing on the structures resulting from it. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Applying the ecosystem services concept to conservation initiatives or in managing ecosystem services requires understanding how environmental impacts affect the ecology of key species or functional groups providing the services. We examined effects of river impoundments, one of the leading threats to freshwater biodiversity, on an important ecosystem service provided by large tropical rivers (i.e., artisanal fisheries). The societal and economic importance of this ecosystem service in developing countries may provide leverage to advance conservation agendas where future impoundments are being considered. We assessed impoundment effects on the energetic costs of fisheries production (embodied energy) and commercial market value of the artisanal fishery of the Paraná River, Brazil, before and after formation of Itaipu Reservoir. High-value migratory species that dominated the fishery before the impoundment was built constituted a minor component of the contemporary fishery that is based heavily on reservoir-adapted introduced species. Cascading effects of river impoundment resulted in a mismatch between embodied energy and market value: energetic costs of fisheries production increased, whereas market value decreased. This was partially attributable to changes in species functional composition but also strongly linked to species identities that affected market value as a result of consumer preferences even when species were functionally similar. Similar trends are expected in other large tropical rivers following impoundment. In addition to identifying consequences of a common anthropogenic impact on an important ecosystem service, our assessment provides insight into the sustainability of fisheries production in tropical rivers and priorities for regional biodiversity conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Integrated Coastal Zone Management / Revista de Gestão Costeira Integrada is the property of Associacao Portuguesa dos Recursos Hidricos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article discusses the case of Santa Catarina State, Brazil, which experiences the most rapid deforestation in Brazil in spite of its high level of forest coverage. Most of the properties in the state are family farms, while the rest are owned by the state. Several forests in the area have been cleared by farmers in a bid to boost short term income. It notes the conflicting ecological and economic thresholds facing Brazil amid traditional agricultural technologies.