As estratégias relativas às mudanças climáticas para a carne bovina no Brasil: estudo de caso de três elos da cadeia  produtiva

Abstract

The issue of climate change is indicated as one of the main current challenges to humanity. Companies, while an important actor of society, initially proved to be refractory to the imputation of partial liability by the issue of climate change, with sometimes an attitude of denial regarding its presence and against the imposition of regulations that obligate them to reduce their emissions. Currently, however, companies have been more proactive in developing actions to manage climate change, which includes measuring and setting the goals on their emissions of greenhouse gases, developing strategies to mitigate the emissions and adapting themselves to the possible consequences of climate change. This is due to the fact that companies are realizing that climate change presents both opportunities and risks to their business; and this dynamic is variable based on the company's strategic vision on the issue, on the countries where the company operates or on the industry or chain production which the company is part of. As with other aspects of business strategy, the environmental dimension, including the issue of climate change, has also been observed through the prism of the production chain. The production chain of beef in Brazil proves to be very sensitive to this dynamic, whether it's because the beef cattle segment is quite dependent on the natural environment, or because it is seen as being responsible for the highest level of greenhouse gases emissions in Brazil and it's often seen and coerced by several stakeholders, which argue about its environmental impact. On the other hand, the beef cattle segment has a prominent role in the country in terms of economic, social and territorial aspects. Against this backdrop, this thesis aims to identify the strategies, challenges and opportunities in the production chain of beef in Brazil in relation to the climate change management. Methodologically, a qualitative study was conducted using the case study strategy of three companies operating in Brazil, each representing one of the main links in the supply chain: Grupo JD/Fazenda São Marcelo, the cattle breeder; Marfrig, slaughterhouses and food industry, and the Carrefour Group retailer. The results show that all the links in the chain have strategic vision on climate change and have developed strategies for the management of climate change, being the cold storage facility the most developed link. As major opportunities, it has been observed sources of funding and other techniques aimed at increasing livestock productivity, improvements in production and logistics processes in cold storage facilities and retailers, as well as mechanisms that contribute to the improvement of the coordination of bovine chain from the environmental issue. As major challenges, it is mentioned the improvement of methodologies for measuring emissions, limiting the territorial expansion of the agricultural frontier and investment in adaptation actions.