Study Suggests Environmental Policies Need The Systematization Of Resources To Be Effective
Daily temperature data from the United States National Center for Environmental Prediction, linked to the Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the country, showed this year the highest average temperature ever recorded during the month of July, 17.01°C, since the beginning of measurements in the 1970s. The Amazon is one of the main destinations for resources arriving from all corners of the world under the seal of preservation. And the diversity of resources turns out to be a problem.
The professor at the School of Economics, Administration and Accounting of Ribeirão Preto (FEA-RP) at USP, Cláudia Souza Passador, explains that there is a multiplicity of funds and resources destined to the Brazilian portion of the Amazon. “There are some specific funds for the legal Amazon and this, normally, is combined with the presence of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the budget of each state and municipality that are part of it.”
However, despite having a considerable budget, the differences in the origin of each resource hinder the implementation and use of the allocated money. “It is a large budget, but it is institutionally fragmented. The control of these resources and their effectiveness is compromised, because at various times we find public policies that are divergent.”
resources decrease
Despite having the greatest biodiversity on the planet, with more than 116,000 species of animals and 46,000 plant species, Brazil has been suffering from the constant shrinking of the budget allocated to socio-environmental agencies since 2014, when it reached the highest value. That year, the budget went from R$ 13 billion and fell until reaching approximately R$ 4 billion in 2021, the lowest budget in 17 years.
The numbers are from a survey produced by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and the Socioenvironmental Institute (ISA) that analyzed data from the Ministry of the Environment (MMA), the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) and the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) between the years 2005 and 2022.
The study also reveals that, as the budget decreased, deforestation in the Legal Amazon increased, reaching an increase of 20% in 2021 when compared to the previous year. As a consequence of this increase in deforestation, the System of Estimates of Emissions and Removals of Greenhouse Gases (SEEG) reveals that, between the years 2018 and 2020, there was a 30% increase in greenhouse gas emissions, the highest emission level since 2006.
New sources of funds
Working in parallel with resources of public origin, the private initiative created ESG practices , a set of practices that are focused on environmental preservation, social responsibility and corporate transparency. Master’s student at the Ribeirão Preto Law School (FDRP) at USP Vitor Batista explains that ESG practices go beyond profit and think of the collective good. “They go beyond the interests of investors and shareholders. They go beyond profit and start to consider the collective interest in their objectives. Be it environmental or social.”
For Batista, the main difference between public and private environmental resources is the bureaucracy involved. “Public resources tend to be more bureaucratic, they take longer to come out and be effective.”
AI in socio-environmental policies
Aiming to help in decision-making and reduce the bureaucracy involved, Cláudia explains that there are already artificial intelligence tools (AIs) being developed that will help in decision-making on socio-environmental public policies. “I am currently involved in structuring a network within the Research Center for Artificial Intelligence in Public Policy located at the Federal University of Goiás (UFG). This center aims to structure a chat, like ChatGPT, but with a scientific basis and focused on public policies.”
She explains that this project can help the Amazon a lot, as it will play a role in aggregating information about the Legal Amazon. “The idea is to bring together information, databases and scientific production on the subject. And, based on that, it will be possible to see the effectiveness of the use of resources allocated in that territory.”