Challenges for sustainable development in Brazilian Amazonia

Most economic initiatives and infrastructure projects in Brazilian Amazonia have social benefits that are small and ephemeral, while their socioenvironmental impacts are severe. More sustainable forms of development are inhibited by barriers such as a decision‐making system with heavy influence (inc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainable development (Bradford, West Yorkshire, England) West Yorkshire, England), 2018-03, Vol.26 (2), p.141-149
Main Author: Fearnside, Philip M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amazon
Constraints
Corruption
Dams
Decision making
deforestation
Economic development
Electricity generation
environmental impact assessment
Environmental law
Environmental legislation
environmental licensing
Environmental services
global warming
Highways
Hydroelectric dams
Infrastructure
Licensing
Rivers
Roads & highways
Rural areas
Rural communities
Rural populations
Services
Sustainability
Sustainable development
Transportation
Wind power
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Summary:Most economic initiatives and infrastructure projects in Brazilian Amazonia have social benefits that are small and ephemeral, while their socioenvironmental impacts are severe. More sustainable forms of development are inhibited by barriers such as a decision‐making system with heavy influence (including corruption) from actors with interests in nonsustainable activities. These interests have driven a recent surge of legislative threats to environmental licensing. Better alternatives exist for many destructive forms of “development” projects. Examples include transport using rivers (rather than building highways) and electricity generation from Brazil's vast solar and wind resources (rather than hydroelectric dams). Traditional rural populations could receive support from programs that tap the value of the Amazon forest's environmental services, but institutional mechanisms are in their infancy, among challenges that include differing political interests of countries providing environmental services and those that might pay for them, lack of data and a “theoretical battlefield” regarding accounting for benefits.
ISSN:0968-0802
1099-1719
DOI:10.1002/sd.1725