At Next Year's Earth Summit, the World Will Look to Brazil to Step Up on Smart Energy, Amazon Conservation, and Sustainability

Three weeks ago, NRDC launched its Race to Rio campaign calling upon world leaders, CEOs and civil society to come to the 2012 UN “Earth Summit” committed to decisive actions.  One of our initial hopes for the Summit is that governments will “establish policies that provide rivers with the quantity, quality and timing of flow they need to sustain the life within them.”  The first place to start would be Brazil which is known for its riverine heart—the braided Amazon Basin—and these river protection policies are within its reach. 

Brazil is an emerging world power, and it will be playing a much bigger role on the world stage over the next five years. After the 2012 Earth Summit, Brazil will then host the World Cup and the Olympics – both also in Rio.  There will be an intense, prolonged spotlight on Brazil; and that nation will have an opportunity to show the world that they are really doing something about sustainability.

As Deputy National Security Advisor Michael Froman noted before the President’s March trip to Brazil:

Brazil is a leader in the field in thinking about sustainable economic growth.  They’ll be hosting the Rio Plus 20 conference next year, which, as the name suggests, is 20 years since the original Rio conference, and the focus will be how to ensure sustainable economic growth that takes into account environmental considerations. So we’ll be talking with them about a variety of areas where we can cooperate, including clean energy development, biofuels, et cetera.

President Obama’s visit resulted in pledges by Presidents Rousseff and Obama to work together to make Rio+20 a success and to step up our cooperation on renewable energy and clean energy technology. 

Other recent news from Brazil has been less encouraging.  In the last two months, Brazil’s lower parliamentary house has threatened to weaken the national Forest Code, which would accelerate deforestation; several social and environmental activists have been murdered; and the construction of mega hydroelectric dams is threatening to damage the entire Amazon Basin ecosystem, Brazil’s lifeblood.

“The Amazon Basin is like a pulsing vascular system of rivers,” said World Wildlife Fund Program Officer Sandra Lazarte, during Amazon Watch’s “Green Bag Lunch Series” on June 27th in Washington DC.  “If one river doesn’t flow free, the entire system is changed.” 

But with two major hydroelectric dams on the Madeira River on the verge of completion – and two more in the works – the Amazon River’s main artery is about to be blocked.  The Madeira Dams will lead to flooding of rainforest and farmland, heavy sediment build-up, disruption of fish migration patterns, mercury contamination of the water, and the displacement of communities whose livelihoods have depended on the river for generations. 

The Brazilian government has defended the Madeira project in the name of economic development.  The nearly finished Santo Antonio and Jirau Dams are projected to supply 8 percent of Brazil’s electricity needs – a vital asset, considering that electricity shortages resulted in 91 significant blackouts in 2010, and demand could go up as much as 5 percent every year over the next decade. Yet the projects are highly controversial and, contrary to hydropower’s reputation for “clean” energy production, large hydro plants have been linked to significant emissions of methane- a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide – due to the cycle of decaying plant material in reservoirs.   

Brazil’s hydropower projects are a classic case of short-term economic development outmuscling long-term environmental sustainability. But they needn’t be, argued WWF’s Lazarte, if the governments “would look at the big picture”.  Unfortunately, it’s been “business-as-usual” for energy projects in Brazil, where the industry and the government have largely disregarded the impacts on ecosystems and indigenous communities.

The Madeira Dams are at the core of the Latin American Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure (IIRSA), a plan to harmonize regional networks of roads, waterways, ports, energy and communications.  “When I first heard about IIRSA, as a social engineer I thought it was a great idea,” said Christian Velasquez-Donaldson, an associate with Bank Information Center in Latin America, during an Amazon Watch discussion on June 15th. “But IIRSA has not made way for regional and institutional integration, and has not considered environmental impacts at all.” So far, the Madeira Dams have led not so much to regional integration as neighborhood bullying.  According to Lazarte, Brazil has cited national sovereignty to justify the project, even though extensive studies by WWF show that Bolivia will bear a large portion of the flooding.  According to Amazon Watch, Brazil dismissed the Bolivian government’s concerns during bi-lateral talks, and Bolivia failed to file a formal complaint.  

WWF has created a new tool which would allow Brazil to do a better job in managing its riverine resources.   Its Hydrological Information System – Amazon River Assessment analyzes hydrological and biodiversity information.   Lazarte and the WWF have been able to zoom in on the smallest streams and identify those most vital for ecosystem balance.  While it appears that hydropower will remain in Brazil’s energy mix for some time, the government should strive to mitigate its impact by siting smaller dams on less critical waterways.  

Second, Brazil has several viable options for alternative energies. Lazarte recommended bagasse  - a biofuel made from leftover sugar cane fiber - as well as solar and wind power.  But these tools and technologies will be of little use without the political will to implement them. 

Over the next eleven months with the world watching, Brazil needs to act to protect its vital natural resources and continue to improve the lives of its people.  The world needs Brazil’s leadership and example to assure that the Earth Summit will be infact put all of us on a path to a more sustainable future. 

                                     Coauthored with Katherine Manchester

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