Will Brazil's Belo Monte Dam get the green light?

The Brazilian government, led for two consecutive terms by the socialist Partido Trabalhadores (Worker's Party), is enabling an overwhelmingly state-funded public–private partnership (PPP) to perpetrate human rights abuses against indigenous peoples and riparian communities in its Amazon region. This article considers the human cost of facilitating an explicitly neoliberal form of economic development for the benefit of large corporations – the primary vehicle through which states grow and develop their economies. It will also show how the world's second-largest transnational mining company, Brazilian Vale SA, undermines human rights and positive state obligations in Mozambique, in exploiting the coal reserves there. The article frames this complex scenario within the business and human rights discourse, with an emphasis on the political economy of human rights violations. It first defines the role of the corporation within neoliberalism, then assesses whether international human rights law is able to prevent corporate human rights violations, or violations of the rights of specially protected indigenous citizens. This article concludes that Brazil's economic development policy and the actions of its leading transnational corporation – due to extensive allegations of human rights violations at home and abroad – are inimical to the principles of truly sustainable development.

China is now Brazil's largest trade and investment partner, with Brazil's exports dominated by primary products such as iron ore, soy and crude oil. China and Brazil have also become major players in international environmental debates as emerging powers, reflecting their contribution to carbon emissions and their vulnerability to climate change and environmental disasters such as droughts, floods, deforestation, landslides and pollution. In environmental terms, Brazil's exports to China have led to changes in land use focused on export agriculture, the construction of infrastructure in vulnerable areas such as the Amazon region and a growing need for cheap, renewable energy to fuel transport, consumption and industrial development. In the context of these intensifying trade and economic connections between Brazil and China, this article examines the environmental dimensions of this relationship, focusing in particular on the contradictions created by renewable energy production. Paradoxically, given Brazil's key role in the international climate change debate, one of the most controversial aspects of the country's development agenda is the promotion of renewable energy as evidenced in the conflicts around hydroelectric power generation. The latter have provoked protests against the dams' social and environmental effects among local communities and international environmental groups. Little studied compared to the more well-known aspects of Sino-Latin American relations, such as infrastructure and trade, the article argues that Chinese involvement in hydropower in Brazil reinforces an increasingly unsustainable domestic development agenda, as reflected in the asymmetry between arguments about the general benefits of hydropower and the negative effects on local communities.

Gerlak, A.K.; M. Saguier, M. Mills-Novoa, P.M. Fearnside & T.R. Albrecht. 2020. Dams, Chinese investments, and EIAs: A race to the bottom in South America? Ambio 49(1): 156-164. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-018-01145-y

The present article presents securitization theory and applies it to energy policy in Latin America. The article's focus is on how the Brazilian State marginalizes tribal land claims by securitizing energy production in order to pursue so-called development projects in the energy sector. This practice occurs via the utilization of a procedural instrument known as ‘Security Suspension’, the origins and consequences of which are examined in this work. The research suggests that contrary to what is affirmed by the State, this securitization does not benefit the population at large, which raises a question as to why these projects are really being carried out. While a plethora of tribal peoples’ human rights are violated by this practice that perpetuates a policy directed at the marginalization of these minorities, the interest of the majority of the population in the preservation of the environment is sidelined.

The Belo Monte three dam complex hydroelectric being constructed in the state of Pará on the Xingu river was one of the main welcome card from the labour government in Brazil. The power generated would place it as the third biggest hydropower plant in the world. Its largest reservoir, known as either Babaquara or Altamira Dam, occupies an area of 6,154 km² and would have the role of controlling the flow of the Xingu river. However, local and indigenous peoples were seldom consulted and were not explained about its externalities. In theory, financial reparations and public participation were supposed to be a part of the venture, as were food security and housing policies. In reality, the government failed to accomplish these and other promises, such as improvements in health, infrastructure and basic sanitation. Local indigenous peoples and riverside dwellers are the most affected as their livelihoods depend on the Xingu river. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which refers to the effects of human actions on the environment and its ecosystems, released by the government briefly explained the negative effects such work would have upon the environment and the local communities. More recent reports, like the “Dossiê Belo Monte” had a more thorough analysis on the impacts felt by communities. This paper aims at critically reviewing the EIA (RIMA, in Portuguese) released by the Ministry of Energy (Ministério de Minas e Energia) during Brazil’s labour government. Even though the government named it an environmental assessment, it would be more precise to say it is an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA).

Climate change and sustainability targets are key issues within the global development strategy. Emerging economies are perceived to have the greatest pollutant potential and the highest likelihood to shift from a dirty to a clean development paradigm. Renewable energies are increasingly considered as first best solution to combine development achievements while preserving the ecosystem services. The case of the Brazilian Amazon allows reflecting on potential benefits and controversial issues arising when a large deployment of hydro power as a renewable energy source is planned. While hydro is a main alternative to carbon source, the negative impacts on biodiversity, deforestation, water quality and supply, and social inequality – especially for indigenous populations – should be necessarily considered within an effective sustainable oriented development plan. The negative effects are related to different stages of the production process, from the dams building to the water pollution. The analysis will focus on two of the most important and criticized hydroelectric project in the Amazon Region: Tucuruí and Belo Monte. The former dates back in the seventies, at the age of the military dictatorship. The latter, initiated during a democratic period, has just been finished. Despite the big-time frame dividing these two projects, several controversial aspects (e.g. stakeholder engagement and environmental conservation) didn’t change. To evaluate the two projects a simplified CBA analysis has been carried out. The realized comparison pointed out both positive and negative aspects of the plants, urging for possible fairer alternatives for following hydropower plants in the Amazon. Furthermore, the analysis tried to give a prospective view of the expected development North Region of Brazil especially due to the improvement of the energy sector. The present contribution is aimed to set an analytical framework in order to capture potential benefits and costs related to hydro power exploitation in a cradle to the grave approach, to better inform policy makers in their investment decisions.

The main goal of the essay is to develop a Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) of the Belo Monte hydroelectric power plant, located in the middle of the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest. The analysis focuses particularly on social and environmental issues arising from the implementation of this project. Results show a positive Economic Net Present Value (ENPV), therefore a net benefit of about US $ 950 million. However, despite a positive ENPV, when the Social Discount Rate (5%) is modified, the project no longer has a positive net benefit, thus feasibility.

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has the goal of providing decision makers with an indication of the likely environmental consequences of planned actions risking environmental changes and, when necessary, allowing revision of these actions to mitigate adverse impacts. Here we provide an overview of the efficiency of EIA with emphasis on Brazilian Amazonia and discuss the problems and challenges with this type of assessment in highly diverse ecosystems. We concentrate on the methodology and performance of EIAs for three of the most recent and largest infrastructure projects in Amazonia: the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, the BR-319 Highway, and the Juruti bauxite mine. We conclude that all of these EIAs fall short of properly assessing the expected impact of infrastructure development in situ, and that their results had little or no effect on policy decisions. To improve the reliability and usefulness of EIAs in biologically diverse ecosystems, we suggest three relatively fast and cost-effective complementary approaches for assessing biodiversity: remote sensing, reflectance spectroscopy, and DNA meta-barcoding. We discuss how these emerging cutting-edge techniques can help in identifying environmental threats and the consequences of different activities in Amazonia. The ability to monitor the state of the environment and the likely impacts of human activities on natural resources is fundamental to evidence-based decisions on development choices, to the design of appropriate management strategies, and to mitigate biological and ecological consequences.

The paper offers an analysis of the historical, material, and ideational factors involved in shifting socio-environmental activism dynamics in Brazil, with a focus on the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam project located on the Xingu River in the Brazilian Amazon. Relying on qualitative research at a variety of levels, the paper seeks to answer the question: What does the Belo Monte case portend for our understanding of the capacity of green economy to facilitate a greater environmental sensitivity in a national context? The case study illustrates how green activism has been weakened by a combination of selfinterested calculations by activists and strategic maneuvers by the state. Critically for environmental policymaking, the case study reveals how the state and its international allies can use the green economy discourse as a hegemonic tool to isolate opposition, break alliances, and further resource-extraction-oriented economic policies.

Brazil is currently experiencing threats to its Environmental Regulations. We identify in this Country Report two fronts of attack, one concerning the Forest Code, and the other the threat to indigenous and traditional community rights. Paper published in 2014. Access in: <http://www.iucnael.org/en/86-journal/issue/491-issue-20142>

This Master Thesis is based on research conducted during my internship with Cultural Survival (CS) in Cambridge, MA and peer reviewed by Brandeis University. The objectives of the research were to 1) find and compile documented human rights violations committed by governments, police officers, and non-Indigenous peoples against Indigenous Peoples, 2) analyze state policies, legislations, ordinances, and constitutions for laws that discriminate against Indigenous Peoples and/or are in contradiction to ILO Convention No. 169 and the United Nations Declaration for Indigenous Rights (UNDRIP) which provide the basis for International Human-Rights Standards, and 3) monitor previous Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommendations by other UN bodies in regards to Indigenous’ rights and evaluate their implementation or lack their-of. Although the ILO Convention adopted UNDRIP, UNDRIP remains legally non-binding and is only subject to cooperation in good-faith. Thus, this thesis is an assessment of mechanisms such as UNDRIP as enforceable International Human-Rights Standards. As UNDRIP does not provide the legal frameworks necessary to implement and enforce the International Human-Rights Standards, this thesis documents some evidence of the human rights violations being committed in Ecuador, India, and Brazil. The research methods used for collecting data include desk research, case studies, and observation with applied coexistence research methods and a conflict-sensitive approach. The thesis also includes some observations: a) governments do not fully comply with the UNDRIP Guidelines and b) are not held accountable for their violations against human-rights. Despite governments ratifying ILO Convention No. 169, its supervision depends on State reports to ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) and to the Committee on the Application of Standards of the International Labour Conference. Without States drafting reports on violations against ILO Convention 169 to the ILO Committees and changing the legal status of UNDRIP to make its Articles legally binding, conflict between governments and Indigenous Peoples will continue. Thus, the findings include specific violations that result in explicit recommendations. Although I did not communicate with any subjects directly, I used the Do No Harm framework to assess my findings and make appropriate recommendations. While some governments seem cooperative in accepting certain UN body recommendations, many of the recommendations made to secure and guarantee the rights of Indigenous Peoples have not been implemented. Recommendations 9.3-9.5 address these issues. Again, this is because of lack of accountability and legal status for enforcement. While NGOs are able to produce shadow reports to expand the UN’s understanding of a State’s coexistence and conflict status, I recommend that these reports also be drafted to ILO Committees. I argue that it would be effective for NGOs including Cultural Survival to participate- not only in the UPR process, but in ILO supervision. Finally, by changing the legal status of UNDRIP, governments will be required to implement the Articles in the Declaration by law. In turn, assessing active legislation and their impacts on Indigenous Peoples, as well as addressing implementation and redress issues, governments can be held accountable for their role in human-rights violations in effort to defend Indigenous rights.

In international environmental literature, hydroelectric power plants (HEPs) are considered as renewable or green energy for a long time. As it can be observed in Turkey, since some countries give " green/renewable energy credits " for HEPs and subsidize them, it will be valuable to evaluate this matter in detail, analyzing legal shortcomings and making proposals to avoid environmental harm caused by HEPs. This paper assesses the misuse of the " green/renewable energy " term for HEPs in Turkey, in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and in some other countries. It proposes that the renewable energy category should be amended and HEPs should not be considered as renewable energy automatically.

Brazilian environmental impact assessment regulations came into force in 1986 and practice has been evolving ever since. Environmental impact studies are submitted to environmental agencies, entitled to grant licenses and to enforce EIA procedures. The most important control embedded in the Brazilian legislation is the administrative control exerted by these agencies. Advancements are noteworthy, but implementation remains very uneven among states. A unique feature of EIA in Bra-zil is the external control role played by the Prosecutors Offices. Demonstrating EIA value to society , i. e. that it conveys actual (and, ideally, measurable) benefits, is an emerging challenge in Brazilian practice.

Carbon credit is granted to hydroelectric dams under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the assumptions that (1) the dams would not be built without CDM funding and (2) over the 7 to 10-year duration of the projects the dams would have minimal emissions as compared to the fossil fuel-generated electricity they displace. Both of these assumptions are false, especially in the case of tropical dams such as those planned in Amazonia. Brazil’s Teles Pires Dam, now under construction, provides a concrete example indicating the need for reform of CDM regulations by eliminating credit for hydroelectric dams.

Recently, the Inter American Commission of Human Rights of the Organization of American States granted Precautionary Measures on behalf of affected indigenous groups against Belo Monte, the world&#39;s third largest hydropower plant under construction in the Brazilian Amazon, due to lack of effective participation. Likewise, there are many examples of infrastructure projects being implemented in Brazil without effective mechanisms of consultation and public participation capable of ensuring the rights of local communities. In Brazil, environmental licensing covers a range of tools that seeks to prevent, mitigate and compensate the impacts caused by development projects. The guarantee of transparency and participation, including the obligation of public hearings with local communities, is required to ensure the legitimacy of the process. Based on interviews with stakeholders, the present study points out the perception that public hearings have not been an efficient instrument for th...

SUGGESTED CITATION Macedo, M. and L. Castello. 2015. State of the Amazon: Freshwater Connectivity and Ecosystem Health; edited by D. Oliveira, C. C. Maretti and S. Charity. Brasília, Brazil: WWF Living Amazon Initiative. 136pp. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Amazon Region contains both the largest block of contiguous tropical forest and the largest river system in the world... The Amazon River network is the lifeblood of the regional economy, providing the primary means of food and energy production, transportation, and other vital ecosystem services... The Basin’s native forests and savannahs recycle 50-75 per cent of regional rainfall back to the atmosphere via evapotranspiration and help regulate the regional climate. These hydrological connections help maintain over 1 million km2 of freshwater ecosystems, which sustain a wealth of biological diversity and productive fisheries that are a vital source of protein and income for Amazonians. Amazon freshwater ecosystems are connected to the ocean, atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems via the hydrological cycle... Today the Amazon faces unprecedented development pressures. Dam construction, mining, oil and gas exploration and exploitation, new accesses and land-cover changes...are increasingly degrading Amazon freshwater ecosystems, disrupting the magnitude and timing of hydrological flows. Across the Amazon, 154 hydroelectric dams are currently in operation, 21 are under construction and ~277 are in the planning stages. If all go forward as planned, the Amazon network of power plants will have an installed capacity of ~95,000MW, and only three free-flowing tributaries will remain. At the same time, agriculture and ranching have expanded dramatically in the region... The cumulative effects of these hydrological alterations could irreversibly alter the hydrology, geomorphology and ecological integrity of Amazon freshwater ecosystems. Despite their regional and global importance, many of the Amazon Region’s freshwater ecosystems are not enough protected and have been largely ignored in the mainstream science and policy arenas... The threats to the connectivity of Amazon freshwater ecosystems operate across multiple scales, as do efforts to curb their impacts and conserve freshwater resources. Conservation of these ecosystems requires a delicate balance between these opposing forces and a coordinated effort to overcome the barriers to Biome and Basin-scale conservation planning. Maintaining Amazon hydrologic connectivity and freshwater ecosystem function will require integrated management of terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems and, in many cases, international cooperation. A lack of consistent ecological and social data across the Amazon remains a critical barrier to such integrated management, making it impossible to quantify the true costs of development activities and hindering efforts to evaluate the potential impacts of proposed projects. Developing better baseline data, mechanisms for international coordination and an integrated management framework will be crucial to mitigate the impacts of human activities and maintain freshwater ecosystem connectivity and function for future generations. Threats to the freshwater ecosystem health are not limited to hydropower, but this sector is a considerable part of the problem and could be part of the solutions. Some textboxes in this report present the potential worst scenario, as in the case of Tocantins, example of a potential positive path and at the same time considerable risks, in the case of Tapajós, both basins in Brazil. RECOMMENDATIONS A key objective of WWF’s Living Amazon Initiative is to transform the way hydropower development is conducted in the Amazon by 2020. WWF is committed to developing constructive dialogues among civil society, industry, the finance sector and governments in order to enable sustainable hydropower programmes, should they be necessary, and associated territorial development plans. In order to achieve this objective and reorient development in the Amazon Region toward a more sustainable path, new measures are necessary to mitigate threats to and alleviate pressures on the Amazon freshwater ecosystems. Through its Living Amazon Initiative, WWF proposes a set of key recommendations to be adopted and implemented by decision makers in governments, the private and finance sectors, and the wider societies of the nine countries that share the Amazon Biome (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela and French Guiana). A summarized version of the recommendations (chapter 7) can be found below: KEY RECOMMENDATIONS RELATED TO: FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS AND HYDROLOGICAL CONNECTIVITY • Adopt an integrated vision of Amazon sustainable development and nature conservation. • Develop an overarching regional policy framework for ecosystem conservation and watershed management. • Incorporate the maintenance of ecological flows as a critical goal of decision-making related to land and water use, regional development, and environmental licensing. • Designate new protected areas that increase ecological representation of freshwater ecosystems. • Create or improve legal instruments for the designation of “protected rivers” as a special type of officially designated nature protected area. • Mitigate the direct and indirect impacts of hydropower development projects. • Promote greater international recognition of Amazon freshwater ecosystems. • Sign and ratify the United Nations Watercourses Convention. • Develop a regional strategic plan to maintain connectivity from the Andean highlands to the Amazon lowlands and from all headwaters to estuary. ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AND SOCIAL IMPACTS • Consider the water, food and energy security of Amazon communities. • Ensure informed, free and democratic participation of local communities, including indigenous peoples, in all decisions related to energy and infrastructure development. • Monitor the effects of hydropower development on freshwater ecosystem function, subsistence activities and human well-being. • Respect the rights of indigenous peoples and other traditional communities to their land, water and resources. • Gather better scientific information on migratory fish strategies. MANAGING ECOLOGICAL IMPACTS • Step up efforts to improve compliance with existing legislation on ecosystem protection, with particular attention to freshwater ecosystems. • Implement policies and voluntary standards aimed at achieving zero net ecosystem conversion and degradation (including deforestation, forest degradation and transformation of freshwater ecosystems) by 2020. • Evaluate the cumulative ecological and social impact of dams and associated infrastructure on whole river basins as part of the viability and environmental impact assessments of infrastructure projects. • Assess the potential ecological impacts of the full portfolio of proposed government projects, in terms of both hydrological alteration and forest loss. • Address the drivers of ecosystem conversion and ecological degradation through multi-stakeholder dialogue, exchange of lessons learned and coordinated actions across political boundaries. • Identify and address the ongoing deficiencies that undermine environmental licensing processes. MONITORING AND EVALUATION • Support scientific institutions, strengthening their ability to generate and disseminate reliable and consistent ecological, social and potential impact data for monitoring ecosystem health and social rights and sustainable development, including at the Amazon-wide level. • Produce better ecological and social baseline data to evaluate the impacts of dams, other infrastructure and projects, and deforestation on Amazon connectivity. • Develop meaningful, measurable ecological, social and economic indicators. INTEGRATED APPROACHES WWF believes that integrated approaches (textbox page 114) are needed: to monitor Amazon freshwater ecosystems; plan the use and occupation of Amazon landscapes (terrestrial and freshwater); respect rights and promote social inclusion (especially of indigenous and other traditional communities); and to plan hydropower development in the Amazon. 1) An integrated approach to monitoring Amazon freshwater ecosystems can lead to improved conservation and sustainable use of these areas, as well as to the maintenance of hydrological connectivity in the region. 2) An integrated approach to planning the use and occupation of Amazon landscapes (both terrestrial and freshwater – or “aquascapes”) is key to the conservation and sustainable management of these areas. 3) Governments of the Amazon countries need to respect the individual and collective rights of indigenous peoples and other local or traditional communities to their lands, waters and natural resources through granting official recognition of their territories and ensuring access to the natural resources and ecosystems they depend on (both terrestrial and freshwater). 4) In order to make hydropower development in the Amazon Region more sustainable environmentally and socially, and based on its experience in recent years of engaging with hydropower development processes in the Pan-Amazon, WWF has developed proposals for an integrated approach to planning hydropower development in the Amazon.

In the last few decades, and especially in the wake of the recent economic crisis, the global economic landscape has been altered while developing countries, particularly those in the BRICS group, have increased their economic and political power. The recent crisis, however, is not only economic or financial; today’s world faces a major socio-environmental crisis. The existing economic system based on the overwhelming dominance of nature and ruthless exploitation of natural resources appears to have exceeded the resistance limits of our planet. It is now urgently necessary to question our current system of production and to pursue innovative economic and social initiatives aimed at forging new developmental patterns that are both sustainable and inclusive. In light of the increasing economic and bargaining power of the BRICS countries, this Policy Brief argues that the BRICS have the capacity to lead this process of change, and that Brazil, in particular, should play a leading role in this socio-economic transformation. However, in their pursuit of high and stable economic growth, Brazil and the other BRICS countries have played an active role in damaging the environment through mega-development projects that are usually far from being green and sustainable. A particularly egregious example of environmentally irresponsible development in a BRICS country is the mega-dams projects in the Brazilian Amazon, which has caused significant socio-environmental harm to the irreplaceable Amazon Basin Biome. This Policy Brief aims to analyze both the benefits and harms of this project. We argue that, in the long run, Brazil should attempt to regain its environmental leadership at the global level by conceiving and gradually applying a new development approach to the Amazon. Such an approach should utilize local, small-scale development projects. The other BRICS and emerging countries may then follow the Brazilian example to initiate a shift towards a new green, sustainable and inclusive socio-economic paradigm on a global scale.

Lethal conflicts to stop oil drilling and mineral mining on indigenous lands around the world have been on the rise now for decades. In Latin America since the late 1980s, international law has been codified guaranteeing Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) by indigenous peoples prior to the entry of extractive industries to their lands. However, these prior consultations before extraction resulted in every instance in approval of extractive projects. Contrary to the predictions of international institutions which have strongly endorsed FPIC, the willingness of indigenous communities in several countries to undertake these consultations did not lead to plebiscites on whether to extract, but only to a negotiation of benefits for indigenous communities once such extraction commenced. The transactional nature of the prior consultation process was confirmed in a nationwide survey in Ecuador, where different elements associated with prior consultation –namely, the awareness that this procedure existed, the inclusiveness of the participants, and the belief that the results should be binding– did not impact how likely respondents are to protest extraction. We conclude that rather than differentiated enforcement of multicultural rights, a full enforcement of basic plural human rights and civil liberties may better enable indigenous peoples to protect their rights, decide whether to allow extraction, and at what cost.

This paper works on the situation of indigenous people in Brazil.