Climate Change and Public Policies in the Brazilian Amazon State of Mato Grosso: Perceptions and Challenges

Abstract

This study examines how key stakeholders in agriculture in a number of municipalities in the Brazilian Amazon state of Mato Grosso are incorporating and adapting to public policies on climate change. Fieldwork and semi-structured interviews conducted in 2014 and 2018 with key stakeholders in the region were analyzed to assess the effectiveness of public policies incorporating climate change factors. Data obtained from documents from national institutions complemented these interviews. The results show that although local government claims that its mission is economic, social and sustainable development, and although public institutions and stakeholders repeat internationally recognized protocols and agreements in their communications, in actual fact, these are not reflected by any change in institutional behavior.

The 2008 map of consolidated rural areas in the Brazilian Legal Amazon state of Mato Grosso: Accuracy assessment and implications for the environmental regularization of rural properties

“…Yet, beyond the intentions, the concrete implementation of these laudable efforts is often called into question because the underlying motivations for changing the environmental governance model are still dubious, i.e. economic considerations or real environmental concerns [33]. In order to clarify that point, it is necessary to make accurate data publicly available and debatable in order to avoid future criticisms from stakeholders with diverging interests.…”

Mapping Center Pivot Irrigation Systems in the Southern Amazon from Sentinel-2 Images

“…Finally, our results lend insights into the farmers' adaptation strategies in the face of climate change. Soy producers still consider local climate conditions (i.e., a long and regular rainy season) as a major asset for soybean cultivation in the Southern Amazon, yet many deny climate change [52][53][54] despite the fact that numerous scientific studies have documented significant trends towards a shortening of the rainy season that may prevent adopting double cropping systems over the long run [9,10]. Analyzing the medium to long-term spatio-temporal proliferation of center pivot irrigation systems at regional scales may provide very important information on the concrete actions carried out by farmers to mitigate the expected impacts of climate change on agricultural production [55,56].…”

Impact of Climate Change on Transportation Infrastructure: Comparing Perception Differences between the US Public and the Department of Transportation (DOT) Professionals

“…Like many environmental problems, climate change becomes discernible through increased scientific knowledge and awareness of its adverse consequences as obtained via observation, personal experience, or informational sources like the media. On the other hand, misperception of climate change risks may result from ignorance, the complexity of the issue as a global topic, ambiguous communication about its danger and diverse interpretations of climate-related information [33,47,48]. These misperceptions may constitute a barrier to engagement and inhibit the adoption of climate-friendly lifestyles.…”