Hydroelectric production from Brazil's São Francisco River could cease due to climate change and inter-annual variability

Jong, Pieter de; Tanajura, Clemente Augusto Souza; Sánchez, Antonio Santos; Dargaville, Roger; Kiperstok, Asher; Torres, Ednildo Andrade

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.03.256

Cited by 95 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 42 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This finding demonstrates that the companies are not concerned with current events likely to be linked to climate change, so little disclosure has been made about natural disasters, floods, and storm. However, during this period, several climatic events occurred, for example, hydroelectric production from Brazil's São Francisco River declined dramatically due to climate change and interannual variability (de Jong et al, ). In addition, there was little evidence of the term “climate risk” itself, consisting of only 1.26% of the total and decreasing over the years as can be seen in the table.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors influencing the level of environmental disclosures in sustainability reports: Case of climate risk disclosure by Brazilian companies

Kouloukoui

Sant’Anna

Gomes

et al. 2019

Corp Soc Responsibility Env

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In addition to sustainability issues, companies are being asked to disclose information on climate change risks in order to inform investors and stakeholders. However, despite the growing number of studies on corporate environmental disclosure, there are few studies on risks and opportunities in relation to climate change. This study investigated the extent and content of climate risks information disclosure provided in the sustainability reports of firms listed on the Brazilian Stock Exchange (BM&FBovespa) and tested whether there were any relationships between the amount of climate risks disclosure and some corporation characteristics. The sample was composed of companies that were simultaneously listed on the stock exchange and disclosed the Global Reporting Initiative sustainability reports from 2009 to 2014. The final sample of the study was 67 companies totaling 402 observations. Preliminary results from the content analysis revealed that, although Brazilian companies tend to disclose information on climate risks, the level of this type of disclosure still remains relatively low. Findings suggest that corporate climate risk disclosures have significant and positive relationships with firm size, financial performance, and country origin. Nevertheless, findings indicate that corporate climate risk disclosures have negative associations with level of indebtedness.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors influencing the level of environmental disclosures in sustainability reports: Case of climate risk disclosure by Brazilian companies

Kouloukoui

Sant’Anna

Gomes

et al. 2019

Corp Soc Responsibility Env

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The climate event that fostered the Brazilian government's partial abandonment of Big Hydro—increased heat accompanied by decreased rainfall—was not a single shock to the socioecological system of Brazil but rather a gradual crisis increasing over time as a result of climate change. In examining long‐term rainfall changes in Brazil's São Francisco basin, a key basin for hydropower production in Brazil's Northeast, de Jong et al () found that since 1992, with the exception of 1 year, annual rainfall has been below its long‐term average and the region has officially been experiencing a drought since 2012. Due to the drought, Northeast Brazil began increasingly turning to fossil fuels to make up for the shortfall in hydroelectric energy production.…”

Section: Extreme Events and Low‐carbon Urban Transitions: Case Examplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to the drought, Northeast Brazil began increasingly turning to fossil fuels to make up for the shortfall in hydroelectric energy production. De Jong et al (2018) project that by 2030, hydropower production from rivers in the region could be virtually non-existent during drought years. Amazonian deforestation, in part caused by the construction of these mega-dams as well as biofuel production, greatly decreases the feasibility of utilizing hydropower as it furthers the reduction of precipitation while raising temperatures in the region (and to a lesser extent, globally) (Werth & Avissar, 2002).…”

Section: Extreme Eventmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extreme events and climate adaptation‐mitigation linkages: Understanding low‐carbon transitions in the era of global urbanization

Solecki

Grimm

Marcotullio

et al. 2019

WIREs Climate Change

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

It has become increasingly clear that cities will have to simultaneously undertake both adaptation and mitigation in response to accelerating climate change and the growing demands for meaningful climate action. Here we examine the connections between climate mitigation and climate adaptation, specifically, between low‐carbon energy systems and extreme events. The article specifically addresses the question, how do responses to extreme climate risks enhance or limit capacity to promote city‐level greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation? As a step toward answering this question, we present a framework for considering windows of opportunity that may arise as a result of extreme events and how these windows can be exploited to foster development and implementation of low‐carbon energy strategies. Four brief case studies are used to provide empirical background and determine the impact of potential windows of opportunity. Some general conclusions are defined. In particular, the existing energy system structure is an important determinant of impact and potential for energy transitions. Well‐developed and articulated governance strategies and ready access of effective and economically efficient alternative energy technology were key to transitions. However, prospects for inequity in development and implementation of low‐carbon solutions need to be considered. Finally, exploiting windows of opportunity afforded by extreme events for developing low‐carbon economy and infrastructure also can provide resilience against those very events. These types of responses will be needed as extreme events increase in frequency and magnitude in the future, with cities as primary sites of impact and action. This article is categorized under: Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change > Learning from Cases and Analogies

show abstract

“…Specialists and experts have also debated about possible solutions for water supply at lower costs, since the budget of the final project was set to around $3 billion with the project's state beneficiaries fronting these costs. This is in addition to projections resulting from impacts of climate change, which will certainly be influential in ever-longer periods of drought in the Brazilian Northeast, therefore decreasing the availability of water flowing from the São Francisco River Basin, according to De Jong et al [52].…”

Section: Impacts Of Inter-basin Water Transfer On Water Supply-(sc5)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Building a System Dynamics Model to Support Water Management: A Case Study of the Semiarid Region in the Brazilian Northeast

Araujo

Oliveira-Esquerre

Sahin

2019

Water

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In recent centuries, water consumption rates have more than doubled and the population growth rate is rising constantly. As a result, water scarcity is now one of the main problems to be faced, mainly in semiarid regions. In light of such a dilemma, this study aims to develop a system dynamics model in order to evaluate the water system in the semiarid region of the state of Paraíba—located in the Brazilian Northeast—and it focus on the following two issues: (1) measures that could have been taken with respect to the recent water crisis (2012–2017); (2) simulating water availability up to 2025. It was observed that, despite the options of in-demand management tools being efficient solutions for water scarcity in the short term (e.g., the influence of scarcity-based tariffs in reducing water use), such tools would not suffice in a context of severe drought within a water-providing system that depends heavily on rainfall. However, certain policies involving water-supply management (e.g., wastewater reuse and inter-basin water transfer) are very effective in maintaining water supply and avoiding a water collapse in the region. Furthermore, employing the Monte Carlo approach in simulating the system dynamic proved that the water supply is sensitive to scarcity-based tariffs, wastewater reuse, and inter-basin water transfer. An important advancement in this study was the simulation of a methodology for pricing that encourages rational use of water-based on its scarcity, which in turn increases revenue and investment in other water-management strategies.

show abstract

Hydroelectric production from Brazil's São Francisco River could cease due to climate change and inter-annual variability

Cited by 95 publications

References 42 publications

Factors influencing the level of environmental disclosures in sustainability reports: Case of climate risk disclosure by Brazilian companies

Factors influencing the level of environmental disclosures in sustainability reports: Case of climate risk disclosure by Brazilian companies

Extreme events and climate adaptation‐mitigation linkages: Understanding low‐carbon transitions in the era of global urbanization

Building a System Dynamics Model to Support Water Management: A Case Study of the Semiarid Region in the Brazilian Northeast

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About