Large-scale projects in the Amazon: lessons learned and guidelines: executive summary

Abstract

The initiative aims to organize knowledge and shed light to lessons learned, for public policies as well as business practices, that can help stablish a new relationship between large-scale projects and the territories hosting them, within the Brazilian Amazon region. Lead by a partnership between the Center for Sustainability Studies of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (GVces) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group, this path was made possible through the engagement of over 300 people, representing around 130 institutions of varied backgrounds. Over the course of 15 months, it was formulated a set of diagnosis, practical tools and guidelines in six areas: Territorial Development and Land-use Planning; Financial Instruments; Institutional Capacities; Indigenous Peoples, Traditional Communities and Quilombolas; Children, Adolescents and Women; and Legal Supression of Vegetation (LSV). Historically described as a land of endless natural resources, in the past decades the Brazilian Amazon has been the destination of major investments in mining, hydropower and logistics projects aimed at bringing national production closer to the key consumer markets of the world. However, the region presents still a very fragile development landscape. For example, 98% of the municipalities in the region are below the country’s average in the Social Progress Index (SPI) – a measure that brings together 43 indicators of social and environmental well-being. Symbolically, the ten municipalities with worst Human Development Indexes (HDI) in the country are also located in the Northern Region. Per capita income is 26% lower than the national average. While only 36% of urban households have adequate sanitation, in rural areas, the Amazon has been the hotspot for violent land conflicts in Brazil. The initiative Large-Scale Projects in the Amazon: Lessons Learned and Guidelines starts out with two basic diagnostics. The first points out that infrastructure and mining megaprojects are invariably planned, implemented and measured according to the expectations created at the sectorial level and according to national macroeconomic goals. Little or no connection remains with the actual demands generated locally and regionally. The resulting outcome is often violation of rights, loss of socioeconomic opportunities and strangulation of ways of life and uses of natural resources that are elemental to sustainable human development. As planned investments for the Amazon region amount to us$70 billion until 2020, it is unacceptable that localities that are rich in cultures and natural resources, but also full of historical hardships, continue to be deprived of a fair share of benefits, while suffering the totality of negative impacts. The way out entails, on the one hand, strengthening of legal socioenvironmental safeguards and, on the other, improvement of nonbinding integrative practices as the ones described in this work. The second diagnosis identifies the inexistence of widespread integrated mechanisms that could allow learning from the past in order to avoid still recurring mistakes. Without references of good practices that enable a minimum degree of predictability and adequate risk management, entrepreneurs and investors are also exposed to adversities of reputational, operational, financial and judicial nature. The initiative’s commitment to diversity in dialogue has demonstrated that throughout the plethora of stakeholders there is tangible energy and desire to change the status quo. But more revealing than the gathering of knowledge is the wider space for experimentation and proposition of new questions. This set of guidelines also represents an invitation for further solutions from the gaps that the frontier of knowledge presents today.

A iniciativa Grandes Obras na Amazônia – Aprendizados e Diretrizes tem como objetivo organizar e evidenciar lições aprendidas e recomendações, seja no âmbito das políticas públicas, seja no das práticas empresariais, para que se estabeleça um novo tipo de relação entre os grandes empreendimentos e os territórios que lhes são alvo. Liderada pelo Centro de Estudos em Sustentabilidade da Fundação Getulio Vargas (gvces) e pela International Finance Corporation (ifc) do Grupo Banco Mundial, esta trajetória contou com o engajamento de mais de 300 pessoas representando mais de 130 instituições durante 15 meses dedicados a formular diagnósticos, ferramentas práticas e um conjunto de diretrizes em seis frentes temáticas: Planejamento e Ordenamento Territorial; Instrumentos Financeiros; Capacidades Institucionais; Povos Indígenas, Comunidades Tradicionais e Quilombolas; Crianças, Adolescentes e Mulheres; e Supressão Vegetal Autorizada.

La iniciativa Proyectos de Gran Escala en la Amazonía – Aprendizajes y Guías tiene como objetivo organizar y evidenciar lecciones aprendidas y recomendaciones, tanto en el ámbito de las políticas públicas como en el de las prácticas empresariales, para establecer un nuevo tipo de relación entre los proyectos de gran escala y los territorios donde éstos se llevarán a cabo. Liderada por el Centro de Estudios en Sostenibilidad de la Fundación Getulio Vargas (gvces) y por la Corporación Financiera Internacional (ifc por sus siglas en inglés) parte del Grupo Banco Mundial, la iniciativa contó con la participación de más de 300 personas representando más de 130 instituciones a lo largo de 15 meses dedicados a formular diagnósticos, herramientas prácticas y un conjunto de guías en seis áreas temáticas: Planificación y Ordenamiento Territorial; Instrumentos Financieros; Capacidades Institucionales; Pueblos Indígenas, Comunidades Tradicionales y Quilombolas1; Niños, Adolescentes y Mujeres; y Remoción Autorizada de la Cobertura Vegetal.