Sustainability Assessment and Impact Assessment in the Sugar-energy Sector: an Analysis of the Potential Contributions in São Paulo State

• Grant number: 13/04285-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: January 01, 2014
• End date: March 31, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Luis Enrique Sánchez
• Grantee: Carla Grigoletto Duarte
• Host Institution: Escola Politécnica (EP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Recent research and experience in the field of Impact Assessment has highlighted the importance of developing studies able to integrate environmental, social and economic issues in decision-making, in order to support positive contributions to sustainability in all its dimensions. To designate this approach, the term Sustainability Assessment has been used, leading to the emergency of a new field of studies in Impact Assessment. In this research, we propose an analysis of the practice of impact assessment in the state of São Paulo based on sustainability assessment theory, in order to find contributions, opportunities, barriers, and risks of adopting this approach as a new conceptual and normative framework. As a case study, the analysis will focus on recent Environmental Impact Assessment of the sugarcane industry, being two in details, based on the hypothesis that the environmental licensing procedures in the sugarcane industry tend to have acceptable quality compared to international standards of Impact Assessment, as a result of the attention given by the government and industry to the image of ethanol as a product with low environmental impact. As results, it is expected (i) to obtain a diagnosis of the quality and effectiveness of Brazilian Environmental Impact Assessment in the referred industry, by using international criteria of best practice in Impact Assessment and sustainability assessment; (ii) to obtain an effectiveness study of the impact assessment of two mills in operation phase; and (iii) propose guidelines for improving the quality of EIAs of sugarcane industry. As an additional result, we expect to contribute to the international debate about the state of the art of sustainability assessment as well as to elucidate its potential role in the national context.

Scientific publications

(6)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

CARLA GRIGOLETTO DUARTE; VICTORIA HELENA FERREIRA; LUIS ENRIQUE SÁNCHEZ. Analisando audiências públicas no licenciamento ambiental: quem são e o que dizem os participantes sobre projetos de usinas de cana-de-açúcar. Saúde e Sociedade, v. 25, n. 4, p. 1075-1094, 2016-12-00. (13/04285-0)

DUARTE, CARLA GRIGOLETTO; ALVES DIBO, ANA PAULA; SIQUEIRA-GAY, JULIANA; SNCHEZ, LUIS ENRIQUE. Practitioners' perceptions of the Brazilian environmental impact assessment system: results from a survey. IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND PROJECT APPRAISAL, v. 35, n. 4, p. 293-309, 2017. (13/04285-0)

CARLA GRIGOLETTO DUARTE; ANA PAULA ALVES DIBO; LUIS ENRIQUE SÁNCHEZ. O QUE DIZ A PESQUISA ACADÊMICA SOBRE AVALIAÇÃO DE IMPACTO E LICENCIAMENTO AMBIENTAL NO BRASIL?. Ambiente & Sociedade, v. 20, n. 1, p. 261-292, 2017-03-00. (13/04285-0)

DUARTE, CARLA GRIGOLETTO. Biofuel cropping systems: carbon, land and food. IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND PROJECT APPRAISAL, v. 34, n. 1, p. 2-pg., 2016-01-01. (13/04285-0)

DUARTE, CARLA GRIGOLETTO; SANCHEZ, LUIS ENRIQUE. Addressing significant impacts coherently in environmental impact statements. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT REVIEW, v. 82, MAY 2020. (13/04285-0)

AMARILIS LUCIA CASTELI FIGUEIREDO GALLARDO; CARLA GRIGOLETTO DUARTE; ANA PAULA ALVES DIBO. AVALIAÇÃO AMBIENTAL ESTRATÉGICA PARA O PLANEJAMENTO DA EXPANSÃO DA CANA-DE-AÇÚCAR: UMA PROPOSTA DE ROTEIRO. Ambiente & Sociedade, v. 19, n. 2, p. 67-92, 2016-06-00. (13/04285-0)