Sustainability in Brazil: Issues, Measures, and Future Prospects

This report provides a comprehensive overview of sustainability issues in Brazil, focusing on the challenges posed by climate change, deforestation, and resource management. It delves into the principles of sustainability, highlighting the environmental, economic, and social dimensions. The report explores the reasons behind Brazil's sustainability problems, including deforestation for agricultural expansion and illegal poaching, and the impacts of these issues on the country's ecosystems and climate. Furthermore, it examines the measures undertaken by the Brazilian government and various organizations to mitigate these challenges, such as environmental policies, recycling programs, and legal instruments. The report concludes with a discussion on the future of sustainable development in Brazil, emphasizing the need for integrated approaches to address environmental concerns and ensure the well-being of future generations.

Running head: Sustainability
Topical issue on Sustainability

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Executive summary
The size of the country is directly related to the issues associated with it. Brazil is
affected by problem of climate change thus necessary steps are taken to advance the climatic
change. In this report sustainable development and its measures have been analysed. The
policy has been implemented to overcome from all the concerns of deforestation and
degradation of natural resources. The report covers all the major principals of sustainability
and the effect of climatic changes on Brazil. The reason of sustainable issues and the
measures that are undertaken to prevent the issues.

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Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3
Principals of sustainability.....................................................................................................................3
Parameters than need to be undertaken to measure sustainability......................................................3
Climate change affecting Brazil.........................................................................................................4
Reasons for sustainability issues........................................................................................................5
Measures undertaken by Brazil to prevent the issue..............................................................................6
Future of sustainable development in Brazil..........................................................................................8
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................9
References...........................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
Sustainable development is important as it is the process in which misuse of resources
and the changes that may affect the development of current and future is analysed.
Sustainable development covers the environmental, economic and social domain. Sustainable
development makes sure that the present needs are met without compromising with the
resources that would be needed by future generation. It makes sure that to fulfil present needs
the future is not kept in danger (Inouye, et. al, 2015). The idea of sustainability has grown
from past decades. In this report the main focus would be on Brazil regarding all the
sustainable development concerns and issues faced by this country. Brazil is a country with a
complex and geographical boundaries. There are various reasons due to which Brazil suffer
from various topical issues of sustainability. In this report the main focus is on the suitability
issues faced in Brazil ad what could be done to overcome the issues.
Principals of sustainability
According to the world commission of environment and development it was stated
that current need must not be fulfilled by compromising the ability of future generation. The
principal of sustainable development assures that an individual live a healthy life without any
natural disaster. The development in present scenario should not affect the environment that
affects the future generation needs. In Brazil various laws have been developed to provide
compensation for damage to any natural resources (de Andrade, et. al, 2015). They use
various precautionary approaches to protect the nature. The environmental degradation is
protected so that it does not cause any damage in the environment. The principle of
Sustainability is to ensure that all existing resources are maintained for future generations.
Living sustainably is about living within the means of our natural systems or environment
and ensuring that our lifestyle does not harm society and culture (Darela Filho, et. al, 2016).
Parameters than need to be undertaken to measure sustainability
Following parameters need to be considered for development of sustainability.
 Environmental sustainability- In Brazil taking care of environmental sustainability
involves maintaining all the natural resources (Groppo, et. al, 2015). It involves
conservation of biodiversity, forest areas, watersheds and protection of other

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resources that are on the verge of extension. It helps in reducing the environmental
related threats like loss of biodiversity, climatic changes or any global level issues.
 Economic Sustainability- It helps in promoting the economic sustainability by
measuring the budgeting capacity of the country (Carley and Christie, 2017) . It
covers the issue that might be related due to poverty or poor resources management.
 Social sustainability- It involves converting the man-made resources in a creative
manner that could be used to fulfil the basic needs (Carley and Christie, 2017) . It
emphasizes on local communities to be well aware about the sustainable ways of
resource utilization.
 Institutional sustainability- In Brazil strict implementation of environmental policies
and regulation helps in attain the objective of sustainable development.
Climate change affecting Brazil
Brazil is suffering from various environmental issues that include deforestation in the
amazon basin, wildlife trade, air and water population, degradation of land, water population
that is caused by mining activities. Climatic changes and environmental issues remain the
major concern in Brazil. Deforestation is the major issue in Brazil and it comes due to the
amazon rainforest. People cut down the forest which leads to release of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere (Strezov, Evans and Evans, 2017). The increasing amount of carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere increases the risk of climatic changes.
Acid rain is another reason due to give Brazil suffers from climatic changes. Acid rain
led sot increase in level of sulphur dioxide or nitrogen oxide. Acid rain is harmful for the
fishes in fresh water and plants in the water. Brazil suffers from acid rain due to this the
acidity level of soil changes which is problematic fir plants and animals to grow in such
regions. The other reason of Brazil suffering from sustainable issues is due to the fertile
conditions (Musse, Homrich and Carvalho, 2018). Hunting is one of the reasons which have
destroyed the natural resources and made many species endangered. Climatic conditions in
Brazil are also affected by air pollution that is increasing day by day this is due to the fact
that urbanisation and industrial development is taking place.
Additionally, Brazil suffers from disposal of waste products or garbage. It destroys
the natural land by reducing the soil containments and making the landfills become toxic and
unstable for future generation. Brazil is suffering from current crisis as number of crimes is
increasing and there is no proper governance (Leal Filho, Manolas and Pace, 2015). Brazil

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has also failed to stop the Amazon’s deforestation which is affecting the natural resource and
creating a problematic situation for upcoming generation. In order to resolve these issues
Brazil has decided that sustainability is not only about the environment factors apart from that
political, social, financial, and economic factors need to be taken care.
Reasons for sustainability issues
There is variety of reason because of which Brazil is undergoing such issues. The
main reason for sustainability issue in Brazil is deforestation. The reason behind deforestation
was clearing the land for plantations of crops as they need to be exported to different
countries to earn better profits. Apart from that in Brazil a proposal was signed to build
railway line through Amazon which led to clearing the forest. Almost 30 million acres land
has been cleared for these purposes which will affect the lifestyle of upcoming generation
(Clark, et. al, 2016).
The other reason due to which sustainability issues have increased in Brazil is
production of food. Brazil is considered as one of the topmost food producer this has led to
conversion of vast land for harvest purpose. Agricultural expansion in Brazil is harmful as it
has increased amount of carbon dioxide in the air and has also increased soil erosion. This
has led to destruction of forest habitat and also causes loss of biological diversity of both
plants and animals. In addition to deforestation the sustainable issues arise due to illegal
poaching that have affecting many native species of Brazil (Nogueira and Lopes, 2015).
Apart from that issues in Brazil have increased due to soil erosion and contamination of water
level. The soil erosion and reduce in water level has increased due to rise in population. The
population is increasing day by day which has affected the natural resources of the place.
These are the foremost issue of ecological degradation in Brazil. The increase in population
needs new areas to live but it has lack of resources and trees that has forced the local
authorities to build hydroelectric dams. Constructions of dams have destroyed entire
ecosystems and have also led to increase the environmental problems (Wri, 2015). The
impact of humans has also increased the risk as human’s practices various activities like
cattle ranching, logging, and construction of damns and production of palm oil. These are the
reasons which have increased the need of sustainability in the region. The resources are been
used without thinking about the upcoming generation. The effect of climatic changes also led
to sustainability issues as due to change in climatic conditions loss of production of crops
occur.

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The unsustainable situation occurs in Brazil if the natural resources are used at faster
rate and that is replacing the resources by replenishing them. It is important to avoid the
chances and secure the resources so that in future there is no shortage. If the resources are not
sustainable then future generation would not be able to make use of the comfort. The
depletion of resources needed to be prevented; one of the reasons in Brazil is global warming
because of which temperature increases that led to cause climatic changes in the environment
(González, Gonçalves and Vasconcelos, 2017). The warm and hot climate leads to affect the
plants and animals species of the region.
Brazil is suffering from water distribution problem as there is bad quality
management in case of floods and droughts. The issue of droughts and flood in Brazil are
increasing due to the change in climatic conditions. These issues lead to major concern as
there is no proper management plan developed to deal with issues of protecting the natural
resources and due to poor educational knowledge (Nobre, et. al, 2016). The improper use of
water bodies will affect the lifestyle of future generation as all the water bodies are destroyed
by performing activities that are not illegal. Apart from that air is polluted due to the
presence of industrial poles and chimneys as smoke is expelled in the air.
Measures undertaken by Brazil to prevent the issue
To improve the conditions in Brazil various measures are undertaken by government
authorities like there are different departments to deal with climate and environmental
changes, to look after biodiversity and forests related concerns. Various environmental
related policies are implemented in Brazil for example National Council of the Amazon,
National Council of Water Resources, Brazilian Institute of Environment and many others
(Minella, et. al, 2018). The combined efforts of these groups help in making sure that
sustainable growth is achieved in the environment.
In Brazil there are various local authorities that take care of poverty, limited access to
justice and lack of services. These institutes are used to improve the quality of environment
and work to save the natural resources. There are various control measures that are used to
prevent the environment from sustainable system. The Brazilian Recycling program has
proposed various controls to add values and also to increase the use of agricultural, industrial
and urban areas. Other than that Brazilian market has defined the life cycle related to process
of environmental standards (Fulquet and Pelfini, 2015). These programs account all the

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environmental, social, economic and cultural aspects of the area. These programs provide
various guidelines to increases the use of natural resources. Additionally, it assures that the
use of resources should be done in an effective manner and there should be no comprise with
the resources for future generation.
There are various legal instruments that are used to improve the sustainability issues,
the instruments covers crime laws, protection and defence code and the legal rights. The
crime law includes all the measures that would be taken to avoid the issues by applying
penalties, withholding of products and apply actions for the person who is violating the
natural resources. The rights are designed that are regulated on daily basis and actions are
taken for the one who damage the environment and the destroy property. Sustainable
development is established to promote the use of resources by maintain the standards. The
Brazilian industry respects the concept of maintaining the sustainability by supervising the
entire activity and ensuring that individual is made aware about the right and wrong. Training
is also provided to enhance the knowledge of an individual regarding all the environmental
issues. These also use proper monitoring and assessment tools to protect the environment
(Ghai and Vivian, 2014). In Brazil programs like national environment initiatives are taken to
maintain all the sustainable activities by creating solutions for improvement.
The issue related to water bodies are improved in Brazil by implementing the laws for
companies and farmers. The plans mainly focus on the impact of sustainable development on
upcoming generation. The recovery plans are designed to protect the areas in which illegal
activities are practised to destroy the water bodies. The degradation of air is also improved in
Brazil by implementing the policy of national environment to control the air containments.
This policy helps in measuring the air quality and applying obligations to improve the
condition. To control deforestation, lands are categorized under reserved area that cannot be
used for any purpose (Mendes, et. al, 2015). A certain portion of land is kept for future
generation so that they do not need to comprise in their needs.
Thus from these measures natural resources are protected for future generation. Some
of the resources are legally reserved and are kept for native use for upcoming generation.
Various laws and regulations are generalised to reduce the misuse of resources and legal
protection is applied to safeguard the resources (Wittman and Blesh, 2017).

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Future of sustainable development in Brazil
If these issues are not undertaken they could led to problem from future generation.
Excessive use of resources would impact the lifestyle of future generation. In Brazil
UNESCO has started to provide education regarding sustainable development
(Toni, Carneiro and Marcelo, 2015). These agencies are responsible for managing the overall
development of the country by coordinating and implementing global action program.
UNESCO has played an important role in Brazil as it support the country by expanding the
activities that focuses on all the climatic changes and disaster risks.
The steps taken by Brazil to improve the sustainability have various steps. It involves
creation of goal by government to implement the transparency of resources. Brazilian
government have designed targets and then they link the target with the desired plan. In
addition to this these actions are used to restrict the farmers for using the agricultural plots
(Cohen, et. al, 2016). The permanent preservations are selected where deforestation is banned
due to their value, thus it helps in securing the land for future use. According to the research
it was found that due to these measures deforestation has been reduced by 80% in Brazil. The
carbon emission in the atmosphere has also been controlled to some extent due to the control
on forest. Brazil has always been considered as land of economic opportunities with abundant
of natural resources present. The use of resources has been controlled and has worked to
preserving its rich biodiversity.

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Conclusion
In this report the topical sustainable issues in Brazil have been discussed. Sustainable
development is important concepts that cannot be ignored as it make sure that the present
development should not affect the need of upcoming generation. The issue faced in Brazil
regarding sustainable development has been analysed. The measures undertaken to improve
the conditions have also been discussed. There are various parameters that are looked to
analyse the sustainability of a region like environmental, economic, social and institutional
sustainability. Brazil is suffering from such issues due to climatic changes, deforestation, acid
rains, excessive amount of carbon dioxide in atmosphere and improper disposal of garbage.
These issues are rising day by day as lands are been occupied for plantation, chimneys are
releasing toxic gases in the air and use of natural resources at faster rate. Various policies and
laws are designed to resolve the issues of sustainable development in Brazil to making best
use of natural resources. Thus from this report it can be concluded that Brazil need to work
on all the measures to attain sustainability.

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