Socio-environmental impacts of Rainforest Alliance Certification on Brazilian coffee plantations The impact of certification was this research project's major focus, which consisted of the identification of the effect of certification over interest variables, isolated from other sources of variation. Specifically in this dissertation, an impact assessment methodology was adapted and tested to analyze the impact of Rainforest Alliance socioenvironmental certification scheme, utilized by the Sustainable Agriculture Network-SAN (in Portuguese, RAS), in coffee plantations located in Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Socio-environmental certification has increased significantly in coffee-producing farms in Brazil, as well as worldwide, since its creation in 1998 up to 2007. Commercialized products with this type of certification carry a message that they are rooted in production systems which promote greater human development and biodiversity conservation values when compared to conventional systems. However, the socio-environmental certification process does not currently measure these differences in a direct way. During certification procedures, an auditor assesses whether production systems are accomplishing pre-established standards. The absence of impact assessments might raise doubts regarding real transformations provoked by certification. Another doubt relates to the establishment of such standards, which were elaborated in public meetings among interested parties that established a reference about what is desirable according to each participant's perception. These stakeholders, in a given moment or context, may have emphasized some particular aspects without clarifying which of the problems of the conventional systems they intended to solve. Moreover, changes might occur in the conduct or paradigms of conventional systems which can affect decisions made in public meetings. As part of this project's objective, it was intended to obtain a reference for production systems with and without certification, to subsidize the establishment of standards and to guide auditing procedures. The impact assessment method utilized was based on comparing certified and non-certified agricultural enterprises in such a way as to obtain a non-factual scenario, in other words, what would occur in the certified enterprises if, hypothetically, they had not been targeted by certification. The sample consisted of sixteen agricultural enterprises in Brazil. Results were generated through quantitative analyses of primary data gathered through interviews with farm workers and managers, satellite image analyses, and field observations. There technical issues selected to test the methodology were worker welfare, biodiversity preservation and water resource conservation, and pollution impact. Results indicate an important role of Socio-environmental Certification in promoting conservation of biodiversity and human development in the short and long run. Some analyzed aspects did not present impacts, however, and some impacts presented a differentia...

Resumen Brasil experimenta, a partir del gobierno de Jair Bolsonaro, un notable debilitamiento de la institucionalidad en lo relativo a la implementación de una agenda hacia la sustentabilidad. Apuntando a identificar tendencias y rupturas, el presente trabajo explora cuatro ejes de la actual gobernanza ambiental brasileña, tomando como herramienta de análisis cuatro Objetivos del Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS): Género (ODS 5), Energía (ODS 7), Residuos Sólidos (ODS 12) y Vida Terrestre (ODS 15). El trabajo está estructurado como un ensayo crítico, subsidiado por la evaluación histórica de los indicadores asociados a los ODS analizados. Se concluye que hay un debilitamiento de la gobernanza ambiental, en lo que refiere a la importancia de una articulación multiactores y de la gobernanza participativa. Se verifica que existen fracturas a partir del 2019 en el nivel federal, con una discontinuidad en varias políticas importantes, pero en los niveles territoriales existen tendencias históricas que ya mostraban injusticias en el ámbito socioambiental, que luego se agravan dada la crisis de la pandemia del COVID-19.

Resumo O advento das concessões florestais na Amazônia Brasileira gerou expectativa de aumento de madeira legal no mercado e concomitante conservação das florestas públicas. Contudo, ainda não ganharam a escala necessária. O objetivo desse artigo foi analisar a experiência do Brasil com concessões florestais para empresas privadas desde a sanção da Lei de Gestão de Florestas Públicas (LGFP), lei 11.284/2006, sob a perspectiva dos arranjos institucionais locais. Foi analisada a documentação relacionada à implementação da LGFP combinada com as informações obtidas por meio da observação direta dos acontecimentos e entrevistas no campo. Observou-se que o desafio da garantia de direitos às populações locais gerou insegurança jurídica aos atores envolvidos comprometendo a continuidade do manejo das florestas já concedidas e novos processos de concessão. Estabelecer arranjos institucionais mais favoráveis será determinante para que a política pública contribua à mudança do setor florestal e seus estigmas.

The advent of forest concessions in the Brazilian Amazon generated the expectation of an increase in the supply of legal timber and concomitant conservation of public forests not yet reached. The aim of this article was to analyze Brazil’s experience with forest concessions for private companies since the approval of the Public Forest Management Act (LGFP), Act 11.284/2006, from the perspective of local institutional arrangements. We analyzed documentation related to the implementation of the LGFP combined with information obtained through direct observation and interviews in the field. It was observed that the challenge of guaranteeing rights to local populations has created legal uncertainty for the actors involved. This compromised the continuity of forest management operations already granted and the advancement of new concession processes. Establishing more favorable institutional arrangements will be key for the sustainable management of legal timber to contribute to changing the sector and its stigmas.

Brazil has experienced a notable weakening of its institutional framework related to the implementation of an agenda for sustainability since the Jair Bolsonaro Administration. Aiming to identify trends and ruptures, this paper explores four axes of current Brazilian environmental governance, taking four Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as an analysis tool: Gender (SDG 5), Energy (SDG 7), Solid Waste (SDG 12), and Life on Land (SDG 15). The study is structured as a critical essay, supported by the historical evolution of the indicators associated with the analyzed SDGs. It is concluded that there has been a weakening of environmental governance, within an understanding of the importance of a multi-stakeholder articulation and participatory governance. It is verified that there cracks have developed since 2019 at the federal level, with a discontinuity in a number of key policies, while at the territorial levels, there are historical trends that already showed injustices in the social and environmental scope, which have been aggravated in the face of the COVID-19 crisis.