quarta-feira, 14 de dezembro de 2011

Rio de Janeiro's Landslide

On January 12th 2011 happened the worst natural disaster in the Brazilian territory. A massive landslide in the mountainous Serrana region of the State of Rio de Janeiro left over 900 people dead and 18,000 homeless (Lacerda). NASA satellite images showed that out of the eight counties hit by the heavy rainfall, Teresópolis, Nova Friburgo, and Petropólis counted more casualties (Demotix). The night storm burst riverbanks and washed steep hills creating fast mud rivers, knocking down houses, and burying entire families along the valley. The scenario of this tragedy was Rio de Janeiro State located in the southeastern area of Brazil covering an area of 43,696.954 km2. The plateau of Serra Fluminense occupies the central part of the state and corresponds to an area of 1,662 km2 with a population estimated at 641,000. The average annual temperature is 18 Celsius and rainfall of 1,500-2,000 mm annually. The local economy is based on tourism and services. The plateau is situated 60 miles north of the State capital, Rio de Janeiro.

The magnitude of the consequences of this event classified it as a disaster. According to FEMA, disaster is “an occurrence that has resulted in property damage, deaths, and/or injuries to a community”. Disaster, however, also presents a social factor. According to Britton, “disaster is a social product. The propensity of disaster is dependent upon the interplay between humans and their use of the physical and social world” and is also “an expression of the vulnerability of human society”. Local authorities also defined this event as a disaster due to human and physical damage never experienced. Teresópolis’s mayor affirmed that this is “the worst catastrophe in the history of the town” (The New York Times) followed by Rio’s environment secretary “the worst catastrophe in the history of the town” (The Guardian). Science helps explain these public statements. Landslides are scientifically called gravitational mass movements (Baggio & Horn) and, in Brazil, these types of geological hazards are mostly associated with exogenous processes with physical, chemical, biological, topographical, climatic, hydrological, and anthropogenic natures. These geomorphological aspects explain the great hazard of gravitational mass movements in a region located 200 meters above sea level (Baggio & Horn). In this region landslides are mostly related to cold front passages and the South Atlantic Convergence Zone (SACZ). SACZ systems, however, have exhibited more intense characteristics than front passages (Seluchi & Chou). By observing aerial images, The Landslide Blog noted that a key factor for these events was slope gradient and less attribution should be placed on cleared land.

Heavy rainfall triggered the landslide but was not the only reason. Unchecked deforestation turning steep slopes into dangerous landslide-prone areas, competing land-uses, intensive exploitation of vegetable production, extensive cattle farming, emerging economic forestry (eucalyptus and pines), tourism, and upper class settlement development also contributed to this calamity (Gaese). Deforestation and agropastoral, for example, exposed the soil and reduced its ability to water infiltration exacerbating the deleterious effects of 300 mm of rainfall within 24 hours causing speed flow of land, mud and detritus exceeding 95 km/h (Baggio & Horn). Even though many blamed the unusual amount of rain and illegally occupied hillsides, hilltops, and riversides with poor foundation quality, physical expansion of urban areas by rapid population growth – the population of Serra Fluminense quadrupled over the last 40 years – had also contributed to the increased vulnerability of the residents (Smyth & Royle). The Landslide Blog pointed out the poor location of settlements as a main factor for exacerbating vulnerability and potentializing risks. Another important aspect is topography. Geologists have explained that tackling rain-induced landslide is considerably challenging because the amount of rain is not the only source to define landslides but as important is the study of hydrological conditions (soil profile characterization, piezometric levels and hydraulic parameters), rain infiltration (pore-water pressures) and water infiltration through the fractured solid-rock transition inducing a rapid development of positive pore water within the soil mass (Gerscovich & Vargas). Other scientists explain that landslides initiation depends on the fluctuation of the groundwater level, on the impact of falling rocks, and on intense rainfall – causing superficial slides. Fluctuation of groundwater induces cyclical variations of the pore water pressure, and consequently of the effective stresses. This variation causes cyclic expansion and contraction of the saprolitic soil, weakening the imbrication of grains and loss of the cementation that may exist. This is called a “fatigue” phenomenon.” (Lacerda)

This disaster caused millions of dollars in damage. Besides the destruction of most of the infrastructure, there were real risks of food price spike in the region (Sky News). Local authorities also had to spend millions on the provision of temporary housing (Demotix). Even with part of water, power, and telephones lines been restored, local units and population were still isolated and deprived of basic services and goods 72 hours after the first landslide (Care International). 800 search-and-rescue workers from the State Civil Defense and firefighters provided immediate assistance. Others could follow but were prevented from the inaccessibility of the area (Care International). This logistic difficulty was created by the natural events themselves but magnified by lack of resilience planning on disaster management. Lack of accessibility turned the Civil Defense into a useless institution as a provider of continuous support to the affected communities (Baggio & Horn). Although geoscientists have warned public authorities about the urgent needs to improve access to the area, these reports were completely ignored multiplying rescue and recovery costs and hindering search and rescue efforts because of continuing rainfall (Baggio & Horn). By not considering scientific advice and disaster planning, public authorities had also to bear with biological and animal losses.

Public authorities as well as grassroots organizations have designed short and long terms solutions to deal with the disaster. In the short-term, the City gave families shelter for up to six months and the Federal government offered to pay the rent of 2,500 families for an indeterminate period, set up a center to register missing persons, and elaborate an immediate plan to relocate families to better organize shelters at churches, warehouses, and stadiums (Demotix). In the medium and long terms, Brazil’s president signed a decree releasing US$460 million in reconstruction funds, promised to remove bureaucratic bottlenecks, register people to help with long-term housing needs, map out and evacuate risk-areas where residents are holding on to their homes, and review the current procedure of cleaning up disasters rather than stopping them from happening (China Daily). Civil Defense officials have said that “we are going to prioritize prevention” by controlling urban expansion pressures, natural resource exploitation, and new processes of land use, especially in areas characterized by mountainous topography (The Christian Science Monitor). Scientists have suggested authorities to identify synoptic patterns of events to guide forecasters and to invest in training on science and technology. These investments would develop tools and provide information not only to promote forest preservation and agricultural development strategies but also to allow meteorologists to identify hazards and to issue potential disasters signs to communities living at risk zones. These promises, however, might be only rhetorical since the federal government had recently cut its budget by almost a fifth for disaster prevention and preparation measures (The Christian Science Monitor). At the civil society level, hundreds of students from neighboring communities volunteered to the Red Cross by donating their time, non-perishables, hygiene products, mattresses, and blankets. Bloggers and social network users promoted a disaster relief movement considered “the largest current ever seen” in the country (Christian Science Monitor).

References

BAGGIO, Hernando; HORN, Heinrich A. “Geological risks in Brazil: The mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro”. Geo-risk management – a German Latin American approach. Heidelberg, 2-7 April 2011. P55-63)

BRITTON, Neil R. “Developing an Understanding of Disaster”. Journal of Sociology August 1986 vol. 22 no. 2 254-271

FEMA. Disaster: “an occurrence that has resulted in property damage, deaths, and/or injuries to a community” (FEMA, Definitions and Terms, Instruction 5000.2, 1990)

GAESE, Harmut. “Biodiversity in Integrated Land-use Management for Economic and Natural System Stability in the Mata Atlântica of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil”. Fachhoschule Köln. University of Applied Sciences Cologne. Final Report

GERSCOVICH, D.M.S, VARGAS JR., E.A., de Campos, T.M.P “On the evaluation of unsaturated flow in a natural slope in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil”. Engineering Geology. Volume 88, Issues 1-2, 22 November 2006, Pages 23-40.

LACERDA, Willy A. “Landslide initiation in saprolite and colluviums in southern Brazil: Field and laboratory observations” Geomorphology. Volume 87, Issue 3, 15 June 2007, Pages 104-119.

SELUCHI, Marcelo E., CHOU, Sin Chan. “Synoptic patterns associated with landslide events in the Serra do Mar, Brazil” Seluchi, Marcelo E., Chou, Sin Chan. Theoretical and Applied Climatology. Volume 98, Numbers 1-2, 67-77, DOI: 10.1007/s00704-008-0101-x

SMYTH, Conor G. and ROYLE, Stephen A. “Urban landslide hazards: incidence and causative factors in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil” Applied Geography. Volume 20, Issue 2, April 2000, Pages 95-118

Care International. “Care in prepared to assist Brazilians left homeless by floods and landslides”. accessed on September 12, 2011.

China Daily. “At least 270 dead Brazil floods, landslides” , accessed on September 15, 2011

Demotix. “Landslides in Brazil seen from space” , accessed on September 10, 2011

MSNBC. “Rain slows Brazil mudslide rescue effort”. , accessed on September 13, 2011

Sky News. “Number Killed in Brazil Floods Tops 500”, Cole, Rob. accessed on September 10, 2011.
The Boston Globe. “Landslides in Brazil” . accessed on September 12, 2011.

The Christian Science Monitor. “As Brazil floods death toll rises” , accessed on Septemebr 14, 2011
_________________________. “Brazil floods kills at least 350”. , accessed on September 17, 2011

The Guardian. “Brazil landslides’ death toll climbs as rescue teams dig for survivors” < http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/13/brazil-landslides-death-toll-rises> accessed on September 15, 2011

The Landslide Blog. “Before and after: high resolution images of Brazil landslides” accessed on September 18, 2011

The New York Times. “Death Toll Mounts in Brazilian Deluge”. , accessed on September 13, 2011
________________. “Landslides and Flooding Kill Scores in Brazil” accessed on September 14, 2011.

Policy Implementation and Shared Governance

“Disaster Policy Implementation: Managing Programs under Shared Governance”, written by Peter J. May and Walter Williams in 1986, focuses on intergovernmental implementation of emergency management programs and how it plays out at the federal and state levels. “Shared governance” is the object of this book which collects opinions, data, and methodologies from an earlier study and official releases. The scope is the relationship between federal headquarters and regional staff, and between the federal staff working in regional offices with state and local officials. Conclusions are drawn from interviews conducted in the following emergency areas: floodplain regulation, dam safety, earthquake preparedness, and aspects of civil defense.

Chapter Five covers floodplain regulation. “State Floodplain Management Programs (1982)” provides figures for flood-prone communities, state program budget, FTE staff, and state regulation from eight states and compare this data with a national median. Arizona’s and Oregon’s officials present diametrical commitment to management programs. Arizona officials have been innovative in relocating flood-prone communities and in working to build local capacity whereas Oregon’s officials have decided that floodplain management is a local responsibility. The reasons for Arizona’s innovative approach are the timing of severe floods in the state, an entrepreneurial state director, a supportive governor, and an able state staff assigned to the relocation program; and the indifferent participation of Oregon officials is attributed to personnel stating that their understanding of floodplain aspects falls under federal programs, that responsibility for floodplain management is delegated to counties and localities, and the state’s historical position in turning down federal funds for programs they refuse to undertake themselves. The contrast of Arizona and Oregon raises the federal problem of deciding how to cope with widely divergent degrees of willingness on the part of states to act as intermediaries in the regulatory process of the flood insurance program. As officials admit there is little they can do to induce the state to become an intermediary, FEMA regional office personnel in Oregon end up being the “sales force” for the floodplain management aspects of the flood insurance program. In Arizona, the “sales” function is primarily handled by state-level personnel with support being provided by FEMA regional office staff.

Chapter Six deals with dam safety mobilization. The “Report on Review of State Non-Federal Safety Programs (1983)” indicates the number of dams, percentage of unsafe dams, dam safety budget, and FTE staff in eight states and compares this data with a national median. California presents the higher number of dams (1269 against 669 national median), the lowest percentage of unsafe dams (3.3 against 28.4 national median), the highest dam safety budget (3,300 against 97 national media), and the highest number of FTE staff (61 against 3 national median). California’s dam safety initiatives derive from a legislation that followed the failure of the St. Francis Dam in Los Angeles County in 1928. In addition, the awareness of seismic activities and the damage of the Lower San Fernando Dam during San Fernando earthquake in 1971 led to new activity and increased staffing within the state. In contrast to California’s initiatives, interviews have shown that states with little dam safety mobilization have limited their efforts due to lack of awareness, insufficient financing to repair dams, and belief that the federal government should be undertaking that responsibility. Dam inspection programs can potentially change this inertial situation by mobilizing state commitment and capacity programs through grant-in-aid programs (Minnesota), funding studies of environmental and economic impacts (Connecticut), and programs to enhance state’s technical capabilities in inspecting unsafe dams, according to reports from the Corps of Engineers (1982). However, interviewees revealed that the federal agency has limited resources to commit states to dam safety programs through capacity workshops, technical assistance, and seed funding.

Chapter Seven is about earthquake preparedness. Interviews were conducted in California, Illinois Massachusetts, and Washington since these states perceive this phenomenon as a major natural hazard. California has concentrated the attention of the federal government because of FEMA assessments indicating that a catastrophic earthquake will occur in the southern part of the state in the next thirty years. The Southern California Earthquake Preparedness Project (SCEPP) coordinates the various initiatives . FEMA expects that SCEPP’s projects serve as a “prototypical plan” for the entire country. From SCEPP’s lessons, FEMA has allocated preliminary funding for vulnerability studies and workshops. Interviews with FEMA officials, however, have revealed that the lack of technical expertise at the federal regional-office and FEMA staff turnovers significantly limit a more substantive collaborative effort in a shared governance model.

Chapter Eight talks about crisis relocation planning (CRP). This plan was created based on a potential nuclear attack upon the United States and an immediate need to relocate the population. According to the Committee on Armed Services from U.S. House of Representatives in 1983, the planning concentrated on 400 risk areas with 3,000 local and 50 state plans being viewed as necessary for the relocation effort. States and localities had considerable latitude in developing plans but state-level interviewees had mixed reaction to the guidance, especially on the volume of “needless” details. In addition, this collaborative effort between federal and state levels was threatened by the diversion of state CRP planners to other activities, the problem of obtaining state and local commitment to federal goals when the goals themselves are undergoing redefinition, and FEMA’s tepid behavior in the face of strong political opposition.

Part II

Chapter Four “Case Study Design” explains how the database for this study was created and the reasons for it. Unstructured interviews were conducted with selected 150 federal and state officials because of their knowledge and role in implementing the programs under study. Also, many lessons were drawn from a previous book written by one of the authors who had previously designed research questions related to the management responsibilities of the federal government and the operation responsibilities of subnational agencies.

Structured interviews would have expanded the database as well as and the accuracy of analysis. More professionals involved in disaster management at the federal and state levels could have been reached if a structure questionnaire with categorized answers were distributed. The increased number of interviews by a random selection process would have improved the accuracy of personnel perceptions by analyzing inputs based on statistical consolidation and comparison. The authors argued, though, that an unstructured selective interview matched with the objective of gathering qualitative data only from the ones in position of implementing executive decisions. In doing so, the study reproduced opinions of a selected few in power position and deliberately left out the concerns and suggestions of many who have long been involved with disaster management but – because of the restrictive scope of the present study - were deliberately ignored.

The present study draws most of its lessons from another book. “Government by agency: Lessons of the social programs grant-in-aid experience (1980)” from one of the authors, Walter Williams, served as the platform for the designing of the research questions of the present book. Even though it is made clear that the current study is a continuation – or a complement – of a previous edition, it should have established a dialogue with authors who agree and disagree with the positions brought up by the authors along the chapters. By not engaging in a dialectic process, conclusions and recommendations greatly diminished in impact and persuasiveness.
Other questions regarding the construction of database and methodology are: Why these four areas of disaster management? Why not others? Why not more? Why eight states? Why not others? Why not more? Who was interviewed? When and how were they interviewed? What questions were asked and how they were framed? Why not more interviewees? Why only a book served as the basis for this study?

Part III

The main contribution of this study consists in analyzing the political and implementation dilemmas of federal disaster policy in preparedness and mitigation. The political dilemma deals with the disjunctive nature of federal disaster policy-making and the implementation dilemma points out the challenge of shared governance of disaster policy among different layers of government.

Political dilemma is divided into before disaster (normal politics) and after disaster (emergency politics). In normal politics, there is a low interest in disaster policy and amendments are stuck in legislature procedures and contradictory agency activities. However, once a disaster strikes, emergency politics gains high political salience, attracts enormous media attention, and changes on disaster policy are enacted. The problem of policy-making after disasters is that this process tends to be defined in terms of most recent extreme events, in addition to becoming costly as the government approves more federal outlays -- through grants and loans -- but doing little to control longer-run growth of disaster losses.

The implementation dilemma confronts the roles of the federal government with subnational governments and individuals directly affected by disasters. On the one hand, federal officials have a strong stake in promoting hazard mitigation and preparedness but little direct control over the effectiveness of such efforts. On the other hand, local agencies and individuals owing a property in hazardous areas directly control the effectiveness of disaster policies but for the most part actions consistent with such policies are low on their list of priorities because of indifferent attitudes before disasters and because many assume they have little control over such events. This dilemma explains why many favor post-disaster relief and structural mitigation over nonstructural mitigation and compulsory insurance.
The authors propose that shared governance addresses these dilemmas. The federal government, by building subnational response capabilities and managing funding responsibilities, and subnational agencies, by being responsible for mandating and encouraging nonstructural mitigation efforts, strengthen the intergovernmental partnership by sharing management and financial responsibilities and improving communication and coordination during nonstructural disaster policy-making process.

Reference:

May, Peter J. “Disaster policy implementation.” New York: Plenum Press, 1986.

Disaster Management Best Practice

Pinatubo is a study case for best practices in immediate direct response preparedness for volcanic eruption. “The Mount Pinatubo 1991 eruption provides an excellent example of how accurate forecasting and timely warning system saved lives” (Tayag, 1997). The number of casualties was minimal in comparison with the violence of explosions and vastness of the area affected. The success of this preparedness is attributed to joint efforts of local people, grass-roots communities, and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS). Even though the conduction of this event is as a model for volcanic preparedness in the Philippines and other volcanic localities, surveys showed that there are still aspects to be improved especially in terms of establishing more fluid communication to reduce the number of casualties and property losses.

Eruption happened in June 1991. In the morning of June 15 Mount Pinatubo on the island of Luzon in the Philippines exploded in the largest volcanic eruption in more than three-quarters of a century (Newhall, 1997). This powerful eruption lasted ten hours and a cloud of ash rose as high as twenty-two miles into the air that could be seen from more than three hundred miles away. Before this cataclysmic eruption about one million people lived around Mount Pinatubo, including twenty thousand American military personnel. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) partnered with PHIVOLCS in the intensive monitoring of the mountain.

Communication between locals and officials helped identify the first signs of eruption. Indigenous Aetas, also known as Negritos, were the first to recognize the signs in April; however, preliminary earthquakes were felt around March 15 (Woo, 2008). The Aetas reported observations to PHIVOLCS through Sister Emma, a branch of the Franciscano Missionaries of Mary. Upon receipt of this information, PHIVOLCS, which had no monitoring system in Pinatubo, immediately began to monitor the mountain and, thenceforth, became the principle source of warnings. PHIVOLCS is the national entity tasked to study and monitor active volcanoes in the Philippines (Tayag, 1997).
Warning messages took form in different ways. Once PHIVOLCS officials started monitoring Mount Pinatubo they designed a warning system consisting of hazard zoning maps, alert levels, and “danger zones” -- areas of recommended evacuation. PHIVOLCS started disseminating maps on and after May 23. After first signs of small steam-blast explosions, PHIVOLCS soon declared a 10-kilometer radius danger zone around the volcano (Newhall, 1997). By the end of June 14, eighty-five thousand people -- including fourteen thousand and five hundred people from Clark Air Base -- had been relocated (Woo, 2008). In addition, daily bulletins and special advisory indicated alert levels associated with danger zones to be avoided and evacuated. Another important task of PHIVOLCS was translating and transmitting official messages to Disaster Coordination Councils (DCC) and local government officials.

The joint effort of PHIVOLCS and USGS saved lives and properties -- especially from Clark Air Military Base -- worth hundreds of millions of dollars by protecting them from damage and destruction. Scientists from both institutions spent US$ 1,5 million responding to Mount Pinatubo reawakening and forecasting, US$ 15 million in earlier efforts and US$ 40 million in evacuation, which prevented lives and property losses of at least US$ 250 million. The total cost of safeguarding lives and property were only about US$ 56 million, that is, one-fifth of the total cost if nothing had been done (Newhall, 1997). These calculus is the main rationale behind the “probalistic criteria” based on a cost-benefit argument which considered mainly the valuable mobile assets stationed at Clark Air Base. (Woo, 2008).

Non-governmental organizations played a central role in providing training for residents living around Mount Pinatubo prior to eruption. Local NGOs trained local leaders through workshops and taught them to identify a hazard, properly respond, and how to evacuate during the most critical time (Zschau, 2003). By educating and leveraging existing community network, NGOs managed to spread information efficiently and convince more easily local residents about the immediate need to evacuate and leave behind belongings and properties. Non-specialists tend to trust more on information passed on by relatives and scientists rather than local government and official newspapers (Houghton, 2011).

A survey was conducted in the aftermath of 1991 eruption to assess whether warnings were received, understood, and used by citizens to take protective action. According to this study 82% took protective action and 46% evacuated. The ones who did not evacuate alleged that they thought eruption would not be strong enough to affect their places; that they could not leave behind belongings, properties, livestock, and crops -- especially in harvest period; that they had no means of transportation to evacuate; and that local God would protect them (Tayag, 1997).

By conducting this survey, PHIVOLCS assessed four aspects of Pinatubo warning system. It not only identified the areas of success but also niches that needed improvement. This effort is part of “sharing performance information” to prevent the recurrence of adverse events that are likely to arise again (Donahue, 2006). A quick note, though, on the methodology of this survey. This was a stratified random sampling of two hundred thirty-four respondents who had lived in danger zones or areas recommended for evacuation – like barangays lying within forty kilometers of the volcano’s pre-eruption summit. Survey biases are mainly originated by interviewing only survivors and by also tending to be in favor of those who took precaution; however, resulting bias is deemed insignificant since it represented a very small percentage of the population at risk (Tayag, 1997). Respondents were household heads and adults, and key informants in barangays and municipal officials. Interviews were conducted by PHIVOLCS staff and local teachers who volunteered and also aided with scheduling and interpretation. The four areas assessed in this survey were source and timing, message, transmission, and recipients’ responses.

PHIVOLCS’s survey revealed the following findings. The most important that 71% of the respondents knew of the risks of the eruption before June 9, the date on which alert level five was issued. Before June 12, the date of the first large explosive events, 82% of the respondents knew of the danger. Also, official communication worked well since danger zones delineated by PHIVOLCS served as basis for the DCC’s issuance of evacuation orders (Tayag, 1998). The number of human losses was minimized -- about two to three hundred people -- because of perceptible signs from the volcano and prompt warning and mobilization of disaster-response officials. These findings “provided insights on how other volcano-eruption warning systems could be developed or improved” (Tayag, 1997). The study also showed that simultaneous transmission of warning was effective -- even though caused some confusion. Population living around Mount Pinatubo received information on the development of the eruption from multiple sources: DCC, major national and local newspaper, radio and TV stations, NGOs, and directly from relatives and PHIVOLCS officials. The drawback of this multipath warning transmission was the creation of some confusion, duplication, and overreaction. The survey suggested that these problems can be addressed by centralizing information in DCC.

Another interesting finding of 1991 survey is people’s responses to warning issues. “The warning, no matter how timely, accurate, and precise, will not be of any value unless the recipient of the warning takes appropriate defensive action” (Tayag, 1998). 81% of respondents who received forewarning alert took appropriate action by evacuating immediately or taking some other different action like preparation, convening meetings, and disseminating information. This survey suggested that the warning system worked well but some aspects could be improved since 18% had forewarned information but 34% of them took delayed and selective evacuation. The survey suggests that these numbers would be improved if local government had given special attention for the most vulnerable groups and developed strategies to convince the reluctant ones to evacuate even though they had to leave behind a harvest that would help them repay bank loans. The document also suggests that the warning communication system should reach out a larger area by radio and be careful about causing overreaction by providing specific and practicable information concerning the magnitude of the event -- the place at which it is expected and the time when it will occur.

The management of the Pinatubo volcano, therefore, “marks the highest point in the development of volcanic disaster mitigation in the Philippines” (Tayag, 1994). However, stakeholders still encountered some difficulties in communicating the magnitude and implications of geological hazards to non-specialists, who may have significant other pressures on them while making a decision as to what action to take, like the financial implications encountered by the military commander of the U.S. Clark Air Force Base who was only convinced to relocate after flying over the volcano (Forster, 2006). Besides communication, officials must address the controversy over adaptive and control approaches to disaster response machines. A combination of a monitoring-warning-evacuation system, relocation of settlements from the hazard zones, and the installation of engineering countermeasures to control and diverts lahar is the most effective and least costly mix alternative to protect lives and properties (Tayag, 1994). Another important aspect that should be improved is to understand people’s behavior in the face of volcanic threats. Volcanic risk perception has to be addressed by balancing non-hazard related factors and structural constraints. The choice of adjustments depends on how people perceive rare and extreme phenomena and the associated risk and people’s behavior in the face of natural hazards and constrained by social, economic, and political forces beyond their control (Gaillard, 2008).

References:

Donahue, Amy K.; Tuohy, Robert V. “Lessons We Don’t Learn.” Homeland Security Affairs, volume II, number 2, July 2006.

Forster, A.; Freeborough, K.; “A guide to the communication of geohazards information to the public.” British Geological Survey, Nottingham, 2006.

Gaillard, Jean-Christophe. “Alternative paradigms of volcanic risk perception: the case of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines.” Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, volume 172, issues 3-4, pages 315-328, May 2008.

Houghton, Bruce. “Understanding Volcanoes and Coastal Hazards”. API Presentation in Honolulu, September 12, 2011.

Leone, Frederic; Gaillard, Jean-Christophe. “Analysis of the institutional and social responses to the eruption and the lahars of Mount Pinatubo volcano from 1991 to 1998.” Geojournal, volume 49, number 2, pages 223-238, July, 2006.

Newhall, Chris; Hendley II, James W.; Stauffer, Peter H. “Benefits of Volcano Monitoring Far Outweigh Costs – The Case of Mount Pinatubo.” U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 115-97, 1997.

Surmieda, M R. “Surveillance in evacuation camps after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, Philippines.” MMWR CDC Surveill Summ, 41 (4): 9-12, August, 1992.

Tayag, Jean C.; Punongbayan, Raymundo S. “Volcanic Disaster Mitigation in the Philippines: Experience from Mt. Pinatubo”. Disasters, volume 18, issue 1, pages 1-15, March 1994.

Tayag, Jean; Insauriga, Sheila; Ringor, Anne; Belo, Mel. “People’s Response to Eruption Warning: The Pinatubo Experience 1991-1992.” Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, 1997.

Woo, Gordon. “Probalistic criteria for volcano evacuation decisions.” Natural Hazards, 45:87-97, 2008.

Zschau, Jochen; Kuppers, Andreas N. “Early warning systems for natural disaster reduction.” Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2003.

Planning Document and Process Review

i. “Key Planning Issues”

The document “Key Planning Issues” is a kick-off for “Oahu 2035: General Plan Focused Updated”. The document briefly analyses eleven areas through the categories of “defining the issue”, “key trends”, and “general plan issues”. Although the document help readers have an overall understanding of challenges faced by Oahu residents, it should have also considered external trends, other local interests, and resource effective distribution.

The eleven areas considered were: future growth; regional population distribution; regional employment and mobility patterns; the changing character of population and housing, affordable housing needs; economic strength and prosperity; Waikiki future role as a visitor destination; other changes in the visitor industry; keeping agriculture’s future healthy; preparing for the impact of global warming; and adding sustainability as a fundamental city policy. Even though these eleven areas cover the City’s main concern over the future of Oahu, they have not included three other important areas for planning such as education, public health, and geopolitics.

According to 2011 State Education Rankings, Hawaii’s public schools rank 37th nationwide in Math and Science (The Huffington Post). Local leaders and planners should know that human capital consists in the best investment against growing hazard vulnerability, lack of resources, and financial uncertainties. Regarding public health, despite the State being ranked as the fifth healthiest in the nation, recent budget cuts, unemployment, and increasing demand for public health from immigrants have increasingly imposed an extra burden on Oahu’s planning process (KITV and American Public Health Association). As for geopolitics, the emergence of China as an economic and military superpower in the region and the bilateral treaties between the State and Pacific island nations have gradually changed the economic, political, cultural, and social scenarios on Oahu (The Economist and Census). Planners must include these elements in an envisioning exercise.

Group interests shape planning. According to the General Plan of 1977, Ewa area should have become by 2011 the second major center for economic activity on Oahu. Even though the document highlights few reasons for the failure of this project, the document could have also mentioned the conflicting private and public interests gravitating around the development of this area preventing job growth and an equal distribution of resources across the island. The same conflict occurs in housing, tourism, transportation, and agriculture. The City has expressed commitment to providing affordable housing to its residents; however, it has marginally blamed zoning and financial policies for not accomplishing the previous statement. In addition, the City’s has neglected to assess affordable housing in a context of increased demand for a scarce resource -- such as land -- resulting in price hikes.

In terms of tourism, the document has not provided clear alternatives for the development of tourism and value-added policies to this sector since local authorities and planners seem to act in unison with the current forces of mass tourism model witnessed in Waikiki. Planners could have designed alternative scenarios where the tourism industry would evolve by investing in new markets to reduce dependency and to increasingly divide its profit among residents by creating conditions for the appearance of more enterprises and high-paid positions. Concerning transportation, the current physical and mobility planning have failed to provide alternatives to the car mode. In the context of promoting housing density, means of transport like buses, bicycles and walking should be highly considered in decision-making process not only because they create better social environments but mainly because these modes effectively respond to the present responsibility over the effects of climate change on the next generations. Finally, in terms of agriculture, the planning document is aligned with the argument that local production should be restored and promoted. Planners, however, should also ponder on the local and global benefits of specialized markets in providing better and cheaper products to Oahu residents --and the world population --, in addition to the self-reliance ability of the local agriculture and the costs to compete against markets enjoying more competitive advantages.

Residents and planners have passionately argued for and against agriculture as a driver of public interest on Oahu. The main arguments for are that Oahu’s lands are fertile, reduce the dependency over imported food, and retain capital inside the State establishing a dynamic local market. The arguments against are usually related to the costs of producing locally, the ability to produce competitively at a large scale, and the opportunity cost of using this scarce resource for other purposes. As local planners have been largely influenced by interest groups and public authorities supporting the former position, planners should consider the latter scenario in order to contribute to the debate by offering alternative pathways. Assuming that exist localities presenting more competitive factors of production to grow crops at a lower marginal cost than Oahu farmers, planners should incentivize land use for other purposes than agriculture. By regulating and zoning Oahu’s land for housing, for instance, residents would enjoy more space for implementing affordable shelter programs, enjoy larger and more equipped recreational areas, increase its regional security by investing in military technology, foster an alternative and value-added development of socially responsible tourism, and promote knowledge-intensive economic sectors. This planning document should acknowledge that economic sectors based on knowledge present a higher multiplier effect -- resulting in more jobs and higher salaries -- than natural resources and capital intensive industries. Due to Oahu’s historical and geographic advantages, the alternative scenario of using scarce land for other purposes than extensive agriculture should be seriously considered by bearing in mind the importance of using public spaces for investments in services and technology, which in turn distribute financial resources among residents helping them achieve social equity.

ii. Tourism

Part two is a critique on the planning background material of the discussions carried out by the focus group in charge of tourism issues on Oahu. The first part summarizes reasons and proposed solutions followed by what should be carefully considered by planners and decision-makers.

The focus group meeting in tourism happened in September 2010. Different groups were represented. The attendees were North Shore Chamber of Commerce, Outrigger Enterprises Group, Hilton Grand Vacations Company, UH Economics Department, Governor’s Tourism Liaison, ABC Stores, Peter Apo Company, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Nature Conservancy, DPP, Hospitality Advisors, and Helber Hastert and Fee Planners. Before the meeting, the group received an email containing 1992 General Plan (GP), visitor industry analysis report prepared by hospitalizing advisor, draft meeting agenda, and a list of possible discussion questions. After the meeting, attendees produced a report agreeing on the revision of GP since the current status of the tourism industry is significantly different than in the 1970s, hotel occupancy has been reduced and replaced by enlarged rooms, and investments are needed to foster entrepreneurship. Attendees also expressed concerned over international competition from cutting-edge infrastructure being built in Asia and increasing costs of airfare slowing down the sector unless major transportation technology occurs.

Besides marketing concerns, attendees were also worried about the status of tourism activities and attractions, and planning integration. Poor signals, inferior public facilities, and lack of visitor information were identified as areas requiring immediate improvements. Regarding activities and attractions, the City has not been upgrading them showing as a result that the sector importance for the local economy has been neglected. Another point highlighted was the elaboration of the 1992 GP. Attendees stated that this document had addressed areas in isolation resulting in inconsistencies and contradictions between objectives and policies such as the promotion of tourism, transportation, and affordable housing at the same time as it advocates the preservation of agriculture and natural environment.

The group proposed specific solutions to different areas. In terms of activities and attractions, more investment in infrastructure and marketing is needed to compete against other destinations in the region. 1992 GP should be upgraded by integrating various plans and considering tourism impacts on subjected areas like environment, housing, and agriculture. Updated GP should also address tourism from residents’ perspective by investing in infrastructure and facilities that residents enjoy at the same time as they protect natural resources for future generations like beach parks - Portland, Oregon, is an example. The balance between the needs of the locals and tourism can be achieved by preserving open spaces, protecting natural resources that attract visitors, limiting urban growth boundaries, mitigating the volatility of the tourism sector, supporting sustainable agriculture through tourism, and integrating food production, environmental protection, and renewable energy. These objectives can be achieved by expanding the number of attractions like Hanauma Bay and Diamond Head hiking trail across the island and developing networks to alleviate congestion such as bus services to North Shore. With regard to culture, Native Hawaiians should be able to share local elements with visitors by developing a community-based tourism model. Makaha resort hotel and its golf course is a successful example of an enterprise that benefits the local culture, residents, and the tourism sector alike.

Concerning harbors, it was claimed that investments are necessary to increase the number of tourists coming from cruise lines and also because of business opportunities presented by the multiplier effect of investments in ocean-based accommodation. In relation to marketing, the tourism sector must be a strategic component in all plans; therefore, Hawaii Tourism Authority’s branding strategies should be incorporated by GP. Finally, in terms of secondary resort-areas, attendees defended a decentralized decision-making process so that a small-scale visitor accommodation can be built and function as an alternative to supplement the concentration of Waikiki hotels. Another concern over development was service providers operating illegally in residential communities -- like North Shore --, and so the need to enforce regulations while limiting site and scale for new investments. Development in Waikiki and Ko’Olina, for instance, should be limited.
The discussions carried out by the focus group on tourism can be criticized in different ways. As it is impossible to cover every element, topics to be covered next briefly reflect on how composition, methodology, ideology, and resource distribution can negatively affect planning.

Membership is a fundamental element of planning. Selecting who participates shapes the entire process of defining who benefits and who loses once public intervention takes place. In the case studied, even though the core is comprised of representatives from the private, public, community, and environmental organizations, it is clear that private organizations constitute a majority, that only organizations already benefitting from tourism were invited to the negotiation table, and that organized groups directly paying for tourism investments through taxes but marginally benefitting from them -- in addition to externalities created -- were intentionally left aside. By disregarding the positions of other actors such as unions and nongovernmental organizations, the planning process misses the opportunity to establish a dialogue and identify opportunities with economic sectors that represent a significant part of residents’ interests. In doing so, the implementation of policies tend to witness increased opposition leading to slower processes, higher costs, and less profitability in the long-term. National parks in Brazil, for instance, have had a limited number of members discussing purposes and vision for these areas so that local authorities have had to put off many of the planning ideas, faced increased costs delimitating and monitoring regulations, and not fully benefitting from the touristic potential of the natural environment (Oakerson, 1990).

Data input is another important element of planning. Once planners define which information, figures, and statements drive a meeting, they have set up the fundamentals from which every decision is made. In the case studied, facilitators had opted for information deriving from planning documents and tourism data analysis. Since these documents are restricted to one sector and one area, it risks making decisions that have not taken into account the importance of an economic sector closely connected with other fifty markets (Fletcher, 1989). In addition, by predicting economic growth solely based on the indicators of emerging markets -- like China and Korea --, planners risk providing public authorities with limited analysis on threats and opportunities. The main problem of tourism is volatility. Since this sector is not perceived as an essential service, it is the first item to be cut from family budgets in times of economic uncertainty. Also, Hawaii’s tourism model is heavily depended upon airplanes and cruise lines, which are immediately affected by geopolitical crises worldwide. This challenge is addressed by allocating resources in the local market and diversifying foreign markets. The islands of Canarias, in Spain, draws millions of thousands of tourists every year, but the rate of foreigners have increased in comparison with European tourists. Also, local authorities have invested in different local markets like education and agriculture to offset cyclical economic downturns on the national and regional markets (Herms, 2005).

Ideology is about values. The main belief among the members of the focus group is that market forces address nearly every problem faced by local communities. This assumption is identified when the document states that the group agrees that the City should foster entrepreneurship rather than exert political control; that protecting the environment, creating shelter and fostering agriculture and native cultural pride are logical market outcomes after investing in better facilities and attractions; and that regulations should only be enforced over actors profiting illegally from the tourism industry and whenever status quo faces increased competition. Market forces are driven by opportunity costs and profitability. Nevertheless, culture, land, and history do not necessarily follow laissez-faire rules. Public planning has the duty to protect the interest of those groups benefitting the least from market benesse. If nothing is done, dominant groups use power to overshadow competitors and acquire large chunks of land exacerbating social riots. Values, land-use, and memory should be daily instruments of any planning document. By enforcing land-use regulation and considering historical disadvantages, Oahu residents will stop categorizing based on subjective merit indicators but according genuine initiatives, characters, and peculiarities. Local values, after all, have definitely more commercial value than keeping Hawaiian culture off Makaha Resort’s fences (Hassan, 2000).

Equity is achieved by fair distribution of resources. These resources are land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship. Planners must provide data input on these elements so that factors of production can effectively influence decision-making processes. If land is concentrated at the hands of few, many others cannot have access to public services and facilities. If labor is considered only from a cost perspective, it creates a remuneration system incompatible with actual living costs. If low-income families do not enjoy access to instruments to produce on their own, they will be only contributing to accelerating social inequality. If people do not enjoy good public education and financial aid for professional growth, the market will increasingly become monopolized affecting innovation. The intrinsic dynamism of the tourism sector positively affects the distribution of resources. To achieve so, planners must consider the availability and access of resources by the entire community. By implementing democratic processes, planning helps a society to thrive in the long-term. This is the model adopted by the highest developed societies in the world -- the Scandinavian nations -- and the paradigm that Oahu’s planners could follow by not letting monopolies over land, furloughs in public schools, developers controlling political power, and only the affluent enjoying legal incentives and protections to start up a business. (Wilkinson & Pickett, 2009).

iii. Nature, depth, and impact of public participation

Planning is messy. The process of inputting data to influence decision makers legitimizing public interventions involves a myriad of interests. The private sector is usually the dominant player. Corporations lobby for frameworks that allow profit maximization. The public sector guards the competing interests of sets of people. In this context, planners expand membership and the scope of problems to permit broad participation in decision making. Civil society organizations also play an important role in planning. Since the local government is not able to represent every group, alternative institutions gather people sharing same interests to voice their concern over the use and access of public goods. Converging and conflicting interests among businessmen, public authorities, and community leaders turn planning into a battle over concentration and distribution of power.

The main avenue for participation in Oahu planning process is joining community meetings. Individuals and groups participants are given the agenda of the gathering beforehand as well as key issues to be discussed. Questions and comments are written down and summarized to be later included in the minutes. These concerns guide the update of the general plan as well as technical discussions and commission review.
Oahu planning process presents advantages and limitations. Regarding participation, the main advantage is its invitation to individuals to join meetings and voice their concerns. Also, the early steps of this process provide an equal opportunity for different groups to participate in an organized fashion. The main limitation is locality. Individuals wishing to participate have to travel to the meeting. This decision not only increase costs for community members but also restricts the number of local feedbacks by deciding not holding community meetings. As for topics and framework, formality allows broad participation over a number of different topics in a democratic way. However, this same framework creates a false sense of broad scope for a process intrinsically more complex. In order to create an agenda addressing communities’ concerns, planners should set up preliminary meetings where informality allows passions to be expressed spontaneously without constraints.

Participation must be extended. Community meetings should be held in different localities, in addition to the provision of a framework for online inputs and fiscal incentives to individuals proposing written and oral testimonies. Public schools and community colleges could train individuals to write or videotape their concerns to public officials. Likewise, fiscal incentives for low-income regions would create an extra motivation for communities to organize themselves, to identify local issues, and to propose creative solutions. These initiatives aim to reduce the gap between public and private entities participating in the planning process. Oahu’s General Plan had seen a large number of private companies but few community leaders advocating for the betterment of marginalized localities. By supporting these initiatives, this document -- by encouraging broad participation -- shifts and distributes economic and political power among stakeholders.

People are busy and lack resources. Individuals and small community groups do not enjoy the same resources than large corporations and privately sponsored non-profit organizations. Therefore, poor localities tend to be underrepresented in updated planning processes whereas rich areas and private interests enjoy privileges by lobbying for public interventions meeting their interests. Other issues are accessibility and the understanding of information. The disadvantaged usually have more difficulty to keep up with the news as well as to organize personal and community concerns and voice them cohesively and coherently. To level the plain field, planners must assist these underprivileged groups by closely working with them so that narratives naturally emerge to influence policy making.

Planning is about collecting narratives -- the more, the better. Powerful groups enjoy economic backup, legal experience, and political influence to present their interests anywhere at any time. Small organizations and individuals, however, are pragmatic in distributing their time and limited resources as they usually operate under human and financial limitations to participate simultaneously in negotiation and implementation fields. Planning, however, is only considered a legitimate process if it allows broad participation among different stakeholders. In other words, complexity is a fundamental condition for establishing a democratic planning process. In this context, planners face the challenge of setting up a framework where opportunities are created and given to all those interested in participating. The ability of facilitating, summarizing, empowering, and finding common ground between competing discourses constitute the main skills and roles that public planners should daily and professionally incorporate and perform in order to anticipate problems and avoid the emergence of other issues while implementation takes place.

iv. Utility of Theory

Theory is a thinking tool. Concepts are the foundation of rationales. History, schools of thought, definitions, and categories help planners develop critical thinking over problems encountered on the ground. A planner equipped with theory is aware of the importance of stepping back to analyze the dancing floor from the balcony. Theory streamlines planning.

Equity depends on theory. As practitioners are frequently overwhelmed by daily work, it is crucial to ensure that decisions are made not on automatic mode. Practitioners must be able to identify vicious habits by incorporating analytical tools that allow decision making processes to be repaired and reinvented. Planning is an ongoing process with limitless interests. If practitioners ignore personal and collective trends, biases, and competing narratives, problems are not anticipated and implementation costs risk soaring due to social, legal, and environmental unexpected reactions. Planning theory reduces unknown costs.

Society is a complex system. As part of social science, planning interplays with economics, sociology, history, geography, political science, public administration, architecture, public health, travel and tourism, and other fields. Practitioners aware of this constant dialogue between planning and related fields are careful in their valued judgements on what fits best for a locality. Planning is, thus, an interdisciplinary area where different social theories come into play. Ignoring how one subject overlaps with planning theory is the same as prescribing a wrong remedy for a complex disease. Theory helps diagnose the real causes and prescribe the right remedy.

Some theoretical ideas have shaped the review and critique of this document. Deborah Stone analyzes equity through a distribution perspective. This analytical approach -- considering goods, services, wealth, income, health, illness, opportunity, and the disadvantage and how they are distributed within a society -- was the social justice leitmotif of this review. Another Stone’s idea incorporated in this paper is the concept of narratives as symbolic representations. Stone warns that “the problem of figures of speech is that they evoke a sense of urgency confining policy response and suspending critical thinking by reducing the scope of problems in order to make them more manageable. The solution is adopting larger discussions.” Michael Brooks has also presented interested concepts. The first is the notion that the first function of public planning is “the provision of data for decision-making” and even though many different agencies collect and provide data for public authorities, planners can especially influence decisions by working on data related to land matters. Another Brook’s idea contributing to this document is the framework of the Feedback Strategy (FB), which proposes six stages for evaluation and pays special attention to the interaction between planning and social and political environments. Finally, Collins & Ison ‘s ladder illustrating the stages of participation and how they correspond to changes in degrees of citizen engagement served as the foundation for the most of social critiques of this planning process review.

References

APHA (American Public Health Association). “The State of Public Health in Hawaii”. Nov 23, 2011. http://www.apha.org/NR/rdonlyres/03F42670-A37C-44FB-A4C8-E2F4E6F00776/0/Hawaii2011PHACTCampaignSheet.pdf

Census. “We, the Americans: Pacific Islanders”. Nov 25, 2011. http://www.census.gov/apsd/wepeople/we-4.pdf

Fletcher, John E. “Input-output analysis and tourism impact studies”. Annals of Tourism Research. Volume 16, issue 4, 1989, pages 514-529.

Hassam, Salah S. “Determinants of Market Competitiveness in a Environmentally Sustainable Tourism Industry”. Journal of Travel Research: volume 38, number 3, pages 239-245. Washington DC: 2000.

Herms, Franziska. “Alternative Tourism on Gran Canaria”. Diplomica Verlag. Hamburg: December, 2005.

KITV. “Hawaii No. 5 In National Health Ranking”. Nov 22, 2011. http://www.kitv.com/health/26474371/detail.html

Oakerson, Ronald J. “Analyzing the Commons: A Framework”. Digital Library of the Commons. Indiana: 1990.

The Economist. “Facing up to China”. Nov 24, 2011. http://www.economist.com/node/15452821

The Huffington Post. “State Education Rankings: The Best and Worst for Math and Science”. Nov 21, 2011. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/11/state-education-rankings-_n_894528.html

Wilkinson, Richard G., Pickett, Kate. “The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better.” 2009: Bloomsbury Press. United Kingdom.

Climate Change and Food Security in Brazil

Climate change directly impacts food security. The objective of this paper is to identify institutional mechanisms that address climate change as well as availability and access to essential crops. The scope is the North and the Northeast of Brazil, since these are the macro-regions most vulnerable to the effects of climate change in this country, whose institutional mechanisms has been internationally recognized as effective tools to tackle food issues in the face of climate change.

This paper is divided into four parts. The first establishes the relation between climate change and food security in general terms. The second narrows down the topic to Brazil’s context. The third deals with regional policies addressing food security in the North of Brazil, especially in the Amazon region. The fourth explains how the poorest part of this country, the Northeast, has addressed the effects of climate change from an institutional standpoint.

First Part - Climate Change and Food Security

Changes in climate are expected to bring greater levels of climate variability and to worsen the social and economic stresses that the world’s poor live with (Tompkins, 2008). The growing amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere has melted polar ice caps, shifted rainfall patterns, accelerated desertification and droughts, and increased the number of diseases (Domingues, 2008). Defining these uncertainties is extremely important in the process of designing food security policies.

Food security is “when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (Chakraborty, 2011). Even though an increasing number of carbon dioxide emissions increases crop biomass and grain yield in the short term -- causing a phenomenon known as “the fertilization effect”, especially in subtropical areas -- there is emerging evidence and current observations of reduced grain yield from high-temperature and water limitations in tropical areas, making a wholesale increase in the long term unlikely (Chakraborty, 2011). Also, the impacts of plant diseases likely minimize or reverse any benefit from the carbon dioxide fertilization effect. Nevertheless, grain production has doubled over the last forty years as a consequence of changes in plant protection and other agricultural technology, including a 15-20-fold increase in pesticide worldwide (Chakraborty, 2011). Despite this, the overall proportion of crop losses has increased during this period and an excessive use of insecticides has increased pest outbreaks and losses in croplands. As farmers respond to challenges of securing sufficient, safe and nutritious food for the ever-expanding human population under changing climate, pesticide usage is expected to increase (Chakraborty, 2011).

Food Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 1.02 billion people went hungry in 2009 -- the highest ever level of world hunger. The constraints on food security are declining investment in agriculture, land degradation, urban expansion, conversion of crops and croplands into non-food production. These constraints are expected to reduce the total global cropping area in 8-20% by 2050 (Chakraborty, 2011). In addition to pesticides and cropland, commodities’ prices have been greatly affected by climate change. Commodities’ prices are defined by intersectoral relationships between oil production, financial markets, Asian countries’ demand, and the increased production of biodiesel (Wilkinson, 2010). In this context, the International Food Policy Research (IFPRI) has conducted a study on different climate models and results showed a general decrease in the growth rate of agribusiness production. If these numbers prove to be right, developing countries will be the most affected, especially in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa (Abramovay, 2010).

Countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America have designed national policies related to food security to offset the losses of crop production, especially due to climate change (Pretty, 2003). In Uganda, India, and Brazil, for example, food security policies are expected to sustain economic growth with sustainable demand and stability; improve income distribution and quality of life; restrain inflation; promote sustainable expansion of internal market; invest in education; provide sanitary conditions; reduce public deficits; and redefine the role of the state (Zibetti, 2002; Pretty, 2003). Specifically, it is necessary agrarian and land reforms as well as agro-industrial, scientific, and technological policies at the regional and national levels (Zibetti, 2002).

The capacity to adapt to climate change relies on wealth, technology, education, information, capacity, infrastructure, resource accessibility, and management. Adaptation policies are necessary to avoid species migration and the extinction of fauna and flora, which leads to priceless losses of genetic patrimony. The contemporary society also needs to adapt to shifts on sea currents affecting entire food chains in the oceans, and the strengthening of parasites resulting in the diminishment of species (Conrado, 2000). Climate change also modifies soils, depletes and salinizes portable water, and forces millions of people to live in and flee from disaster-prone areas. The factors that intensify vulnerability to climate-related catastrophes are a combination of population growth, poverty, and environmental degradation. A possible solution is creating impact indicators and natural monitoring systems over tree blossom and seed production. Indicators like these ones alert planners about the risks, costs, and necessary planning to tackle climate change accordingly. In the agriculture sector, it is necessary to improve the eco-efficiency of cultures, promote adequate soil management, prioritize native seeds, incentivize agro-ecology, reduce the number of mono crops, and invest in the formation of rural leaders (Conrado, 2000). Water scarcity also poses a formidable challenge to increase food production by 50% to meet the projected demand of the world’s population by 2050 (Chakraborty, 2011). Climate change, therefore, will make conditions even more difficult by increasing the uncertainty over the availability of water for irrigation and the risk -- magnitude, extent, and frequency -- of other hazards over food security, especially in developing countries.

Second Part – Food Security in Brazil

Context

Climate change directly impacts food security in Brazil. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated that climate change has caused the following impacts: desertification in the Amazon, biodiversity loss, water scarcity, agriculture and cattle-raising losses, and crop deployment (Domingues, 2008). FAO and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released in 2005 three reports on the projections over world agricultural production. This study points out Brazil as a major global player in agribusiness by 2016. In 2005, Brazil became the third largest exporter of food just behind the United States and Canada (Lourenço, 2008). In 2008, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) assessed the impacts of global warming on the main crops in Brazil over the next decades. This study showed that grain harvest losses are estimated to be around US$ 4 billion by 2020 and US$ 9 billion by 2070 (Domingues, 2008). Climate change also dislocates croplands since farmers seek suitable climate conditions for their crops. Manioc, for instance, is expected to disappear from arid areas. Coffee will no longer be concentrated in the Southeast. The South will be hosting manioc, coffee, and sugar-cane, which will substitute soybean mainly due to water stress. It is expected that sugar-cane will spread all over the country doubling its area size (Domingues, 2008). Crop deployment will affect many economic sectors. The production cost of agriculture and cattle-raising will increase as well as the cost of inputs for householders. Econometric studies ex-post are unable to identify and assess these phenomena because the dynamism of regional economic variables are determined by cyclical fluctuation and structural factors like demographics and public policies (Domingues, 2008). In addition, lack of studies on these phenomena prevents us from adopting ex-post models to adequately estimate future impacts. The model that should be used, therefore, is ex-ante. These analyses show how climate change effects amplify and neutralize economic inter-relationships through a Computable General Equilibrium (EGC) model. Examples of EGC in public agencies are mitigation policies and carbon taxes (Domingues, 2008).

Institutional Structure

Brazilian leaders have set up institutional platforms to address the challenges of food security. In the context of building a “Strategic State” -- which is a national project in which the State is in charge of establishing an integrated vision encompassing values and aspirations over land --, the government has promoted agrarian reforms and agricultural policies for the agribusiness, food production chains, agro-industries, family agriculture programs, and alternative uses of rural properties. Officials have tried to speed up this process by redistributing land, increasing food productivity, fostering job creation, rising living standards and income levels. In the context of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the country has attempted to reduce agricultural subsidies. In terms of cropland, Brazil has the potential to expand its agricultural frontier while increasing the number of job opportunities. Most of Brazil’s land structure -- little over 60% -- is comprised of very small landholdings. The percentage of the number of people working in these very small croplands is almost half of the total number of people working in the agriculture sector in the country; however, very small landholdings represent only 8% of the total agricultural area (Zibetti, 2002). These numbers show the importance of very small landholding cropland for the Brazilian economy and the extreme concentration of land in the national land structure.

The National Council for Food and Nutrition Security (CONSEA) represents a model of governance guided by effective participation by civil society. Described as a tool for communication between the government and citizens, CONSEA is an advisory body to the president on policies and general guidelines for food and nutrition security. Composed of fifty four representatives, two-thirds from civil society and the private sector and one-third from the federal government, CONSEA’s members are labor unions, business associations, the food industry, church groups, professional associations, academics, and non-governmental organizations representing family farmers, indigenous communities, and others. The government representatives come from nineteen different federal ministries and special secretariats. Despite such diversity of interests, since 2003 CONSEA has put forward a number of proposals and initiatives, such as the increase in allowances for the federal School Meals Program and the creation of the Food Procurement Program (PAA), which promotes direct crop and milk purchases by the government for building food stocks -- and regulating prices -- and to be used in government food program such as School Meals or food banks. Small farmers earn up to US$2,000 per year through PAA. But the Council’s most significant accomplishment so far has been the elaboration of the National Law on Food and Nutrition Security (LOSAN), passed by the Brazilian Congress in 2006. Article 1 of this law establishes definitions, principles, guidelines, objectives and composition of the National System for Food and Nutrition Security -- SISAN -- through which the State, with the participation of organized civil society, will formulate and implement policies, plans, programs and actions towards ensuring the human right to adequate food. For the first time the right to food is institutionalized as a matter of public policy and an obligation of the state in this country. LOSAN also strengthened CONSEA, since it establishes the national council as a permanent state institution, with an elected president from civil society and the mandate to develop programs for SISAN (Rocha, 2009).

Brazilian agriculture specialists have worked to reduce the country’s vulnerability to climate change. This is done by identifying causes, defining agricultural scenarios, and coordinating research projects. This coordination is led by the Center of Meteorological and Climate Research Applied to Agriculture (CEPAGRI), EMBRAPA, and Agritempo -- this is a network of agro-meteorological information. This institutional collaboration creates a database and models that define agricultural scenarios at the national level. The two projects carried out by these institutions are Brazil’s Agricultural Zoning and Climate Risks Zoning, which focuses on family agriculture, biofuels, and pasture. The scenarios designed have considered temperature increases of 1, 3, and 5.8 degrees Celsius and of rainfall of 5, 10, and 15%. These scenarios were simulated in a homogeneous way for the entire country and disregarded any technological evolution in the management of cultures and genetic enhancement as well as plant adaptation to new conditions. The cultures assessed were soybean, corn, rice, and beans (Pellegrino, 2007).

Biofuels

The production of biofuels is related to food security. It is largely assumed that biomass cultivation for biofuels has gradually destroyed native forests (Sachs, 2007). Biofuel Watch -- a British non-governmental organization and -- Lester Brown are voices supporting this argument. Hunger, however, is not a direct result of lack of food but derives from low income. In addition, the calculus of cultivable land areas for biofuels cannot be done by juxtaposing productive chains and by the sum of assigned areas but by seeking integrated food production systems and adapting energy sources for various biomes (Sachs, 2007). Arguments in favor of biofuels are that vegetable residual or co-products become basic input for anew cyclical production; areas utilized for biomass are the degraded and marginalized ones; plants used are rustic; new oleaginous plants featuring high level of energy are expected to surge increasing the average productivity per hectare of food cultures and as a result reduce the amount of necessary areas for production; and forests and agro-forestry systems expand the production of cellulosic ethanol since reforestation increases production (Sachs, 2007). Thus, it is important to assess the natural limits of biofuel production by respecting the double imperative of the inviolability of native forests and of the obligation to ensure food security for everyone. These measures are met by integrating small farmers into productive chains through public policies and organizing cooperatives for the commercialization and industrialization of products (Sachs, 2007). It is important to note the cross effect of biofuel and food since both rely on the same raw material. Certification of exported products also ensures the respect for ecological and social norms. The establishment of a regulatory agency would be able to intervene in the negotiation with foreign investors and assess projects from social, environmental, and economic criteria and also to promote ecological zoning (Sachs, 2007). The emphasis, though, should be on food and energy integrated systems. The government will accomplish so by increasing investments in research institutions like EMBRAPA. Finally, it is necessary to avoid the over appreciation of the exchange rate to guarantee the competitive price of Brazilian commodities in foreign markets (Sachs, 2007).

Third Part – The Amazon

International and national mechanisms have attempted to mitigate the effects of climate change on the Amazon. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) and Afforestation and Reforestation (A/R) are mitigation instruments to make forests worth more alive than dead by providing monetary incentives to maintain forests standing (Trivedi, 2009). In 2005, the Amazon faced a large drought. The Southwestern and Western portions experienced one of their worst droughts in sixty years, compounded by extensive forest fires. The causes appeared to be warmer global temperatures and lower rainfall. The consequences were lower water levels in the rivers; drained floodplain lakes and streams; and isolation of hundreds of riverine villages and communities (Trivedi, 2009). REDD offers incentives to countries to reduce their deforestation relative to a historical reference level calculated from their deforestation rate in a recent snapshot of time. It operates at the national level and link compensation to a country’s success in reducing recent deforestation rates. The concern over this mechanism is that it targets only a subset of countries and connects incentives to annual deforested areas, which may inadvertently push deforestation to other areas (Trivedi, 2009).

Deforestation in the Amazon is driven primarily by economic profitability in the forms of agricultural expansion and logging, governance weaknesses because of lenient law enforcement; and a deterministic poverty cycle. In the Brazilian Amazon, largely populated by indigenous groups, small-scale farmers are estimated to account for about one-fifth of deforestation. At the international level, REDD compensates developing nations for the opportunity cost of conservation; the costs of agricultural intensification and the efforts in certifying logging and agribusiness; and management costs entailed in enforcement and monitoring at the frontier. Innovative financial mechanisms include financial bonds, insurance premiums, microcredit and patient capital, and eco-certification. REDD objective is to establish an “eco-utility” framework to value forests in equal measure for climate change mitigation and adaptation (Trivedi, 2009).

At the local level, Computable General Equilibrium (EGC) models provide a framework to determine how changes in policies and technology affect deforestation. Such model can take into account a wide range of indicators and variables in calculating the magnitude of the effects of these forces on deforestation (Angelsen, 2001). EGC considers technological change in agriculture outside the Amazon; rising costs in transportation; investments in infrastructure; changes in the real exchange rate; macroeconomic policies, credit, and fiscal subsidies; and population growth (Angelsen, 2001). This model assumes that land has qualitative characteristics, thus divides it into: forested land, arable land, and grassland and pasture. The limitation of this model is the assumption on average deforestation rates which makes it a static model whose results represent the impact of poverty experiments in a timeless world (Angelsen, 2001).

Computable General Equilibrium models are complemented by participatory policymaking processes (Angelsen, 2001). However, public policies emerging from these procedures constitute in very challenging issues. Several factors shape public policies in the Amazon. Some of them are population growth; human development index; urban network and size of rural population; local and regional infrastructure; land conflicts -- access and entitlements --; extensive model of exploration and agribusiness; conservation of natural resources and biodiversity; productivity of family agriculture; indigenous people and sustainable practice; and reduction of social inequalities (Schröder, 2010).

Specifically to food security, the current rate of grain production in the Amazon must change. The current rate of grain and cattle-raising production growth is not sustainable and thus it is necessary to reduce the number of potential products deriving from environmental assets. Some instruments already implemented are the enactment of a moratorium over soybean production (Schröder, 2011). Customers are committed not to buy soybean from deforested areas. Another instrument is adjusting the conduct of cattle-raising ranchers, which is a partial answer to the complexity of agriculture and livestock industry goods coming from this region. The objective is to avoid the acquisition of cow meat supplied by farms incurring in socio-environmental irregularities and to promote state programs fostering cattle-raising modernization as well as the recuperation of degraded areas and rural property relisting (Schröder, 2010).

Family agriculture is the main unit of production in the Amazon. Over 85% of family units occupy 13% of the total area. The reasons for the continuation of this social group are a historical process of unchecked economic growth and consolidation of social gathering groups, and new limits opened up by colonization resulting from the expansion of agricultural frontiers and investments in infrastructure (Schröder, 2011). State governments have tried to streamline the production of the family unit by helping them conserve natural resources based on indigenous and traditional knowledge. Officials have designed specific policies for family agriculture since 1990 to address food security, poverty, income generation, and value-added. These policies have been reviewed over time to promote social mobility, insertion into productive process, and efficient and organized commerce structures (Schröder, 2011). The promotion of the diversity of the rural space in the Amazon has had the support of the National Program to Strengthen Family Farming (PRONAF) which is coordinated by the Ministry of Agrarian Development (MDA). PRONAF promotes family agriculture through programs of credits for investments and costs. MDA articulates the Technical Assistance and Rural Extension (ATER) program throughout the national territory. The growth rate of families benefitting from ATER increased 788% from 2003 and 2009. This is a reflection of 1082% of increased investments in this program during the same period (Schröder, 2010).

Other programs and institutions have also contributed to the issue of food security in the Amazon. In 2010, it was signed a National Policy on Technical Assistance and Rural Extension for Family Agriculture and Agrarian Reform (PNATER). The goal of this program is promoting the continuity of ATER’s services with agility and without interruption to ensure the effectiveness of implementation and accountability. PNATER greatly helped simplify administrative procedures (Schröder, 2010). EMBRAPA is another important institution in the Amazon. It promotes the availability of technology for family agriculture and technical assistance to farmers. Partnering with PRONAF, EMBRAPA has created a credit line that makes it possible to invest in infrastructure and seek conditions to increase family agriculture productivity through research integration and technical assistance (Schröder, 2011). Another plan is the Harvest Plan for Family Agriculture. This program ensured commercialization and assigned a new market for family production -- School Meals Program. A federal law required that 30% of all public money assigned to School Meals Programs must be used to buy products from family agriculture (Schröder, 2010). Two other programs are the National Plan for Promoting Socio-Biodiversity Chains (PNPPs), which aims to promote conservation and the sustainable use of biodiversity, and Policies of Guaranteed Minimum Prices (Schröder, 2010). MDA, for its part, concentrates on the actions of credit, commercialization, technical assistance, inputs, besides land regularization, and infrastructure. The main problems of these regional programs are the challenges for establishing direct communication and adapting public policies to the particularities of the Amazon producers (Schröder, 2010). To successfully do so, it is necessary to strengthen the articulation between research, rural extension, credit, and different sustainable sectors; advance the process of organization and land regulation; ameliorate institutional, juridical, and budget mechanisms; and define and implement indicators and methodologies for the monitoring of results (Schröder, 2010).

Fourth Part – the Northeast

In Brazil, the impacts of climate change are more visible in the dry areas. The Northeast region hosts the most vulnerable population in the country and its gross development product is usually half of the national average. It occupies 18% of the country’s territory, features fragile fauna and flora, an irregular distribution of rain, intermittent rivers, and a high climatic variation. It comprises nine states located at the heart of the region’s infamous “polygon of drought”. Most of its population is made up of Black and indigenous groups (Santos, 2008).

The process of desertification is intensified by poverty and vice-verse. The Northeast features three types of droughts: annual, which lasts seven to eight months every year; seasonal, which lasts one-two years in cycles of thirteen years; and extended, which lasts over three years. El Niño has great influence on the occurrences of these droughts. The federal and state governments have established statistical and dynamic forecasts to mitigate the negative impacts of these extreme events. The long-term monitoring system aims to alleviate the effects of climate change, and promote adaptation and mitigation policies to countermeasure the effects of droughts (Santos, 2008).

The state of Ceará, for instance, has prepared its institutions to deal with the effects of climate change. State agencies are undergoing political and socio-economic change processes. These changes have happened because of decision-making processes based on social indicators and participatory policymaking (Tompkins, 2008). The main aspects of these changes are the democratization of decision-making; decentralization; environmental sustainability; societal participation; stakeholder-driven organizations supporting agencies’ missions; and reform of networks which have provided financial, human, and political support for domestic and international initiatives (Tompkins, 2008). Public policies have integrated disaster response into social and economic policy process and long-term commitment to investments in disaster risk reduction and in collaborative learning-based approach to managing risk. The key factor is managing entrenched poverty and exclusion in hazard-prone areas (Tompkins, 2008).

Climate change impacts the Northeast’s economy. The EGC multi-regional model is represented by a set of linear equations and solutions obtained in the form of growth rate. This multi-regional bottom-up model features national results based on the aggregation of state results. This model simulates policies that have an impact over specific prices and create a system for the regional mobility of factors between regions and sectors. The configuration of this model includes thirty sectors in each of the twenty-seven regions; presents inter-state commercial matrixes for each product; and flows of internal and external commerce. These EMBRAPA’s scenarios include eight crops -- rice, beans, corn, cotton, manioc, soy, sugar-cane, and sunflower. The analysis takes into account production rate and its relation with profitability and capital deployment. It also measures the variation of land supply. These simulations encompassed nine quinquenniums from 2005 to 2050. The findings of these scenarios have led to conclude that the regional gross domestic production is negative in terms of employment, intra-migration, input-output relation, and urban infrastructure services in the Northeast (Domingues, 2008).

Fifth Part – Conclusion

This paper studies the relation between climate change and food security in two macro-regions of Brazil. Institutional frameworks served as platforms to analyze problems emerging from this cause-effect relationship. Even though Brazilian national and regional programs have been successful in addressing food security issues intensified by increasing threats imposed by climate change. The country still faces pressing challenges on its food and nutrition policies.

The first challenge is on the supply side. It is necessary more innovative policies combining basic safety-net and well-targeted mechanisms with structural-change components. Cash transfer programs combined with food policies are not meant only to alleviate income poverty but mainly to break the intergenerational transmission of poverty. Long-term structural changes founded on investments in human capital through education and health break this vicious cycle.

The second challenge is on the demand side. Lack of information and knowledge among small-scale farmers has prevented them from taking full advantage of recent government agricultural programs. Policies to support small-scale family farmers have the same double objective of providing short-term support in conjunction with long-term structural changes. These, however, cannot be realized without further resources geared to farmers’ capacity in gathering information; market-functioning and general education; and forming associations and cooperatives.

The third challenge is in the implementation process. The effectiveness of social councils in governance for food and nutrition security has been undermined by the lack of appropriate training and education among potential representatives from civil society. Local patronage and corruption are also obstacles to effective participatory governance in many municipalities.

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Political Structure and Oil Spill in Brazil

Introduction

This paper studies how political structures have shaped decision making during a recent oil spill in Brazil. The first part briefly explains political disputes over oil royalties from a social perspective. The second part summarizes the roles of and conflicts between oil agencies. The third part points out political obstacles for enacting a National Contingency Plan. The fourth part lists the sequence of events related to Chevron’s oil spill off Rio de Janeiro’s coast followed by a brief conclusion.

1. Political Structure

Chevron's oil spill off the Brazilian coast in November 2011 exposed the major environmental risks of tapping the country's new wealth. It also risked delaying economic development by fueling nationalistic oil politics. The accident quickly became politicized at a time when states were campaigning against a proposal to spread oil wealth more widely. "The reality is that this spill is going to speed up the politicizing of Brazil's oil industry," said Cleveland Jones, a geologist with the National Oil and Gas Institute at the State University of Rio de Janeiro. "We are not going to have a real discussion about the risks and benefits of offshore oil exploration, but an idiotic political discussion. The political risk is going to rise in the industry. This spill will be another excuse to limit the role of companies other than Petrobras in Brazil's oil industry and for the politicians to take more control of the country's oil industry", declared Jones (Blount, 2011).

At the federal level, endless political disputes, excessive bureaucracy and regulation, corruption, and slow judicial systems have led to governmental inefficiency that significantly increased transaction costs. To improve its efficiency, Brazilian public agencies have been undergoing various institutional reforms since the end of the military regime -- 1964 to 1985. For example, in 2007, the discovery of huge additional offshore hydrocarbon deposits in subsalt layers prompted the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to propose changes in the legal regime applicable to Exploration and Production (E&P) activities. This change aimed at decreasing the Congress influence over petroleum private businesses and increasing the autonomy of regulatory agencies in strategic decision-making processes (Almeida, 2011).

The royalty dispute caused not only a fight among Brazil’s states, it also complicated political alliances between the ruling Labor Party and the centrist party, the country’s largest political party, which maintains a dominant presence in the oil-producing states of Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo, both major oil producers. Thus, in order to avoid more conflicts, senators and deputies decided to put the discussion of royalty allocation “on the back burner” (Ball, 2009). By deliberately refraining from openly debating this important national issue, the federal and state administrations put off the creation of a dynamic intergovernmental crisis management system characterized by four risk decision points: detection, interpretation, communication, and mobilization of a collective response system (Comfort, 2007).

A historical constraint on decision making is elite membership in the Brazilian society. Institutional membership is based on economic wealth, such as landholding records and tax returns. Elite values are a barometer of the strength of a democracy in two ways. Firstly, dictate and establish the norms of a democratic conduct. Secondly, reflect the health of a nation's democracy and its appeal to the wider population. Elite discourses on economic progress and the establishment of democracy should not be ignored (Wells, 2010). Elite decisions play an important role in shaping collective definitions and perceptions by highlighting preferred courses of action using three types of symbolic “crisis handling devices” -- framing, ritualization, and making. Understanding these social mechanisms of control is crucial to identify the dimensions of crisis management in local and regional politics (Hart, 1993).

The discrepancy between the parliamentary makeup and social reality of Brazil is abysmal. One out of every three legislators is a millionaire and of these "millionaires" the average capital worth is above one million dollars. The social composition of the Brazilian parliament is a direct reflection of the neoliberal policies adopted during the Cardoso administration of the 90's, which have been strengthened by Lula. Legislatures and political parties are the key institutions and aggregation of elite interests in the political process. Elites are represented in political parties and Legislatures not only at the national level but also at the state and local levels (Wells, 2010). This legitimate means of expression of the elites in political processes impedes the modernization of a public service based on nonhierarchical, independent, and decentralized institutional structures governed by market mechanisms -- competition -- and independent regulatory agencies. A centralized political control also obstructs teams and networks to be flexible and to become nonhierarchical forms of organization, which prevents the surge of new leaders whose skills would help the country achieve better policy outcomes and provide higher quality and cost-effective public services (Kapucu, 2009).

The elite control over public institutions in Brazil also hinders the implementation of an informal but successful crisis management system. Since the two principal concerns of the elite is maintaining its ideals and ensuring the preservation of privileges and rights conferred by its position in the socio-political structure, it becomes nearly impossible to formalize an informal management style which includes ten rules for conducting a successful crisis management program: i) assure that the real crisis is identified, ii) remember that power is what managers have and what the opposition thinks the manager has, iii) do not become involved in areas where the personnel are inexperienced, iv) go outside the opposition's experience and get the opposition on your "home field.", v) make the opposition play by its own rules, vi) do not let issues drag on too long, vii) keep the pressure on and keep in mind that a good crisis manager does not let up or declare victory at the first sign of success, viii) remember that the threat is usually more terrifying than the problem itself, iv) keep in mind that there is nothing to lose and everything to gain -- but it is important to make sure there is truly nothing to lose, and x) remember that the price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative (Lurie & Ahearn, 1991). The patrimonialist way of governance also holds back the establishment of an Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), which is a mutual aid agreement and partnership that allows states to assist one another in responding to natural and man-made disasters, often in advance of federal disaster assistance (Kapucu et al, 2009).

2. Petroleum Entities

According to the oceanographer David Zee, who was advising the federal police in the Chevron case, fining Chevron would not ensure that oil companies would start investing in prevention mechanisms. "This fine is innocuous mainly because it does not aim the main target which is mitigating the risks of future leaks”, Zee affirmed. The specialist also stated that this event should have been used to lay out a national debate over environmental legislation. “Brazil needs to rethink its regulations and laws to enforce mechanisms of prevention, especially related to drilling beyond pre-salt layer", Zee stated. The scientist also criticized the emergency procedures to contain the leak. "Chevron should have acted in less than forty-eight hours but it took over five days to respond”, he claimed. Zee urged the Brazilian oil regulator, ANP, to establish clearer criteria and a list of oil accidents so that it would be possible to fine companies based on the extension and magnitude of damage caused (Andrade, 2011).

In terms of oversight and subsidies, the most effective strategy to remove the government from political stalemates and corruption is avoiding legislators taking over the large flow of money coming into the country from oil operations. Under the military dictatorship, the government created an independent oil company that controlled its own finances and was less prone to political meddling. As Brazil shifted to democracy, Petrobras, the national oil company, partially kept its independence and the oil industry exponentially grew in the country. Hence, continued success depends on successive governments to remain at arm’s length and the enactment of accountability instruments (Victor, 2009). It is equally important that oil companies create a crisis management team -- with a clear chain of command -- well in advance of any crisis. This team should meet every six months to discuss potential crises and how to respond to them. These teams should also be cross-functional to receive inputs from all aspects of their actions, identify every possible disaster imagined and potential crises -- as well as possible responses -- and determine how vulnerable the company is to hazards (Kash & Darling, 1998). Finally, oil companies should also consider the increased number of threats deriving from climate change. By supporting changes in institutional structures and relationships and by partnering with public agencies, oil companies would be able to enhance governance and resilience, and as a result, reduce their overall vulnerability (O’Brien et al, 2006).

Brazil’s government and petroleum companies share responsibility. The legal contract is the primary tool for managing contractor responsibilities and performance. This means that the focus should be on the relationship between operating companies and first-tier contractors. It is also important to establish risk management systems to emphasize the growing importance of “managerial responsibility” since it is extremely difficult to apply standards and implement procedures across the entire contracting chain to ensure good performance. Seven key actions offering guidance for governments and civil society organizations are i) collaborate on early-stage planning and assessments by evaluating workforce capacity, enterprise development opportunities, stakeholder expectations and local content strategy; and by agreeing on environmental and social obligations, standards and evaluation methods ii) invest in capacity building in underdeveloped local markets by funding programs to build local capacity and supporting local business associations and networks iii) encourage uptake of standards through procurement and processes by ensuring health, safety, environmental and social expectations are included in prequalification and tender processes and making sure tender processes are open, transparent and free of corruption iv) ensure that contracts incentivize good practice by balancing incentives for cost, schedule and responsible practices, including provision of dedicated funds for environmental and social measures; by working with lead contractors to align expectations of environmental and social performance; and by ensuring that they do the same with subcontractors v) build capacities and trust on the job by assisting contractors in developing and funding environmental and social management plans and considering longer-term contracts to support capacity development vi) establish excellent communication and oversight throughout the chain by ensuring open lines of communication and feedback mechanisms; by coordinating oversight activities to lessen confusion and overlap; and by supporting local community liaison officers vii) build trust and accountability with external stakeholders by encouraging public reporting using recognized guidelines; and by encouraging good practices in public engagement and resolution of grievances and independent oversight by third-party organizations. Success in delivering good social and environmental outcomes strengthens the industry’s social license to operate and its ability to respond effectively to stakeholder expectations. It requires, however, a concerted effort across the industry, both top-down and bottom-up, and across stakeholder groups (Wilson, 2011).

In December 2001, the National Council for the Environment published the Federal Resolution 293/01 -- “the Oil Law” -- establishing the minimum requirements for an oil spill response plan. The resolution is general in some parts, basically because it is applicable to wider issues involving oil and quite theoretical in many ways so as it demands a subjective approach from the Brazilian Federal Environmental Agency’s (IBAMA) technicians. Experience has shown that some adjustments are needed and since late 2006 the resolution has been revised with the participation of environmental authorities, ANP, Brazilian Navy as well as oil companies. The main objective is minimizing uncertainty concerning oil spill response plans by documenting practices and procedures. Besides the compulsory implementation of a particular oil spill response plan for activities involving oil platforms, terminals and pipelines, the “Oil Law” established that IBAMA should coordinate the implementation of Regional Emergency Response Plans and a National Contingency Plan. However, after ten years, both plans are very far from being developed and implemented. This is primarily due to the lack of a specialized technical team to coordinate these projects. Hence, the Ministry of the Environment and IBAMA should make an effort to integrate all the parts involved, such as regional environmental agencies, oil companies, coast guard, and ANP. The Ministry of the Environment, for example, has mapped sensitive areas. These maps must be shared since they are fundamental for planning protection priorities, defining response strategies, and combating oil spills. The oil companies operating in these areas have to build a response plan to protect the various ecological resources existing in that area. For IBAMA, the great challenge is to guarantee that oil spill response plans for these areas are fully operational and all social and ecological measures to protect these areas are respected. One of the key points learned by the oil companies and IBAMA is the importance of local community’s participation in the development of an effective plan. These communities are important to the process because of their knowledge of local tidal currents and shoreline access points (Maggi, 2008).

Due to the complete separation of competences between the environment and regulatory agencies, ANP has directed its action to the installations of operational safety. The agency, through its Operational Safety Division, developed an Operational Safety Management System -- SGSO --, including seventeen management practices, concerning management leadership and personnel, facilities and technology, and operational practices. Thus, based on safety practices comprised within the SGSO, the operators of a given facility should prove that any kind of risk that may accrue from offshore drilling and production operations are strictly under control. ANP verifies these controls through periodical audits performed in the facilities (Jablonski, 2011).

The Oil and Nuclear Licensing Office -- ELPN/IBAMA -- is a new bureaucracy in the process of ever-rising demand for licensing. Despite inadequate staffing and limited resources, this entity adheres to strict schedules and provides a thorough analysis of environmental documents. Environmental regulation, starting in the mid-1960s, has developed in a fragmented manner through a series of laws, decrees, resolutions and edicts without the necessary effort to ensure compatibility among the diverse legal instruments. Congressional efforts have been underway to provide coherence and consolidation to environmental law, and, more recently, a process was initiated for the restructuring of the National Environmental Council (CONAMA), the consultative and deliberative body attached to the Ministry of Environment that is charged with studying and proposing policy guidelines, and decides on norms and standards compatible with environmental quality. Oil spill and emergency preparedness is an area of particularly high activity in terms of new regulations. In 2000, three main regulatory tools issued were i) one that establishes the procedures for communication of accidents and accidental release of pollutants to be adopted by the oil and gas companies, ii) another requiring oil companies to present a program of environmental audits in all their oil and gas facilities in national territory, iii) and a third ruling on the prevention and control of pollution caused by oil and other toxic or hazardous substances in national waters. Despite the laws, no single operator has yet prepared an environmental impact assessment so that it is too soon to know how these regulations will impact on the proposed emergency preparedness of the operators (Armstrong, 2003).

Oil accidents in Brazil have generated political pressure for rapid regulatory response from government authorities, politicians, environmentalists, media, and the general public. However, the institutional framework of the oil industry is still poorly defined due to recent changes in E&P. The new regime added complexity to the framing of a new regulatory system for environmental protection in which the responsibilities of the various actors are inadequately delineated. Some of the regulations are not in place, others are not adapted to the new oil market regime and others have unclear roles because there was never much demand to apply certain regulations. In this unclear institutional environment, a series of institutional conflicts arises between the regulatory body and the regulated industry; between different organizations at the same level of government; between different levels of government; and regarding the public character (Oliveira, 2003).

3. The National Contingency Plan

An emergency plan is a collection of emergency procedures that must be performed to adequately respond to specific accidental scenarios. An emergency procedure also describes the human and material resources required and includes ancillary documentation, such as maps, simulation results, and list of authorities to contact. The local environmental protection agency and other government authorities audit companies from time to time to verify if they have emergency plans that cover all plausible accidental scenarios, and if they have the necessary equipment or access to the required resources within a reasonable amount of time (Fernandes, 2007).

Contingency plans minimize damage caused by a possible oil spill in the sea. In Brazil, the development of these plans has been in charge of companies involved in the exploration, production and transport of oil. CONAMA has established guidelines that should be followed by oil companies in case of accidents with oil spill. This design of the best disaster responses is difficult to be achieved because it depends on several factors such as quantity and type of oil spilled, location of oil spill, weather and ocean conditions, among others. The question is especially difficult to be treated due to the dynamic nature of the marine environment. The aim is to develop disaster responses for various situations that change over time. The prediction of trajectories of the oil spill is essential to properly manage disaster response in a coastal area. The use of computational models for simulation approaches has been applied with promising results (Khroling, 2011).

In case of oil spill, the interests of environmental agencies, non-governmental organizations and of oil companies are inevitably in conflict in the decision process of choosing the best response strategy. In such situations, a consensus to reach the best viable solution is of great importance. The advantages and disadvantages of different types of responses should be weighted. On the one hand, equipment costs and maintenance befall upon oil companies, and on the other hand non-governmental organizations demand the smallest environmental impact on the coastal areas affected by oil spills. In this context, the process to reach a consensus and to elaborate response strategies necessarily involves a process of decision making with multiples objectives that take into account the preferences of the decision agents so that social, economic and environmental factors are considered (Khroling, 2011). It is also important to highlight that many crises can be prevented -- or at least coped with more effectively -- through early detection. The real challenge of response is not just to recognize crises, but to identify them in a timely fashion and with a will to address the issues they represent. A crisis consists of four different phases: prodromal (early symptoms), acute, chronic, and resolution. Recognizing these phases, and dealing with them effectively, gives oil companies and the agencies an important edge in addressing issues of great importance to the oil industry (Darling, 1994).

The Ministry of Environment is the national authority in case of incidents in marine and continental waters. The national authority is advised by a steering committee composed by the Ministries of National Integration -- responsible for the Brazilian Civil Defense --, Mines and Energy, and Transportation, and ANP. The committee is in charge of annual full-scale exercises and detailing operational procedures. The framework is completed by a committee composed by several other governmental organizations aiming to ensure the necessary human and material resources needed by emergency groups integrated by an operational coordinator and a representative of the company responsible for the oil spill assuming the supersivion of response actions (Jablonski, 2011).

In case of incidents with oil spill, the sequence of events to be followed is:
Incident communication

– Sectoral coordination informed
– National significance?
Yes – National Contingency Plan activation
No – Actions restricted to the installation Emergency Plan (PEI) and to the Area Plan
The response action sufficient
Yes – Actions restricted to the PEI and Area Plan
– Sectoral Coordination follows actions
No – Facilitate and amplify the polluter response capacity: Mobilization of the National Plan structure; Gather the Support Committee
– The actions adopted sufficient?
Yes – Sectoral Coordination follows actions
No – The Operational Coordinator assumes the responsibility for response actions
– The Unified Area Command adopts the necessary actions. (Jablonski, 2011)

From the operational point of view, the plan does not identify the possible origin of resources for the “mobilization of additional equipments”. Neither clearly defines the role of states facing the pre-salt area and the main local stakeholders in an event of oil spill. Brazil does not have either a specific fund, like the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund in the United States to gather financing resources to cope with large incidents or even liability associations as The Offshore Pollution Liability Association (OPOL) in the United Kingdom. A bill under discussion in the Congress, proposed immediately after the Gulf incident, compels concessionaires of exploratory blocks to pay a minimum of 2% of their income aiming the “constitution of a special reserve to cover environmental and socioeconomic damage caused by oil spill…”, but the discussions have not evolved so far. On practical grounds, Brazil has not gotten yet a formal arrangement connecting Ministries and other institutions potentially involved in strategies to deal with large incidents. As the preparedness, mobilization, monitoring and response strategies were conceived as a part of the plan itself, there was not either a progress on these matters (Jablonski, 2011).

In the absence of a National Contingency Plan, the public defender of Rio’s state, André Ordacgy, affirmed that he will file two public civil actions -- one against Chevron for causing environmental damage and another against the Ministry of Environment, in case a National Contingency Plan is not ready within ninety days after the oil spill in November 2011 based on administrative impropriety (Itamaraty, 2011). After BP oil spill in April 2010, José Sérgio Gabrielli, Petrobras’ president, said: “Here in Brazil laws are stricter than in the United States” and “the plan continues to be strongly oriented toward accident prevention” (Millard, 2011).

4. Chevron Oil Spill

The Brazilian Federal Police on November 10, 2011 began investigating an oil spill in an offshore field operated by Chevron. Fábio Scliar, head of the federal police department's environmental affairs division, told government news service that his division began to look into the causes and extent of the spill. A national website quoted Scliar as saying that technicians he sent to the offshore field came back with information that conflicted with that provided by Chevron. He said they only saw one ship being used in the cleanup while Chevron has said there were eighteen being used on a rotating basis. Without going into details he said there was also conflicting information regarding the size of the leak. Chevron has said that the oil spill was between 400 and 650 barrels of oil, but that the company had contained the leak. The company said in a statement that "cementing operations are taking place as part of ... well plugging activities." Chevron said the oil on the ocean surface had "substantially dissipated" and that the slick was down to "less than 65 barrels." Ana Carolina Oliveira, a spokeswoman for ANP, said an estimated 1,000 barrels had leaked to the surface and that it was still unclear if the leak was contained. "We should know by Friday -- November 18th --," she said. SkyTruth, a nonprofit group that uses satellite imagery to detect environmental problems, said on its website the oil spill extended 2,379 square kilometers and that the spill rate was up to at least 3,738 barrels per day. Chevron said in its statement that it "continues to fully inform and work with Brazilian government agencies and industry partners on all aspects of this matter." "If Chevron is not doing what it should -- to contain the spill -- it will be severely punished," Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobão said. Curt Trennepohl, the president of IBAMA, said in a statement that Chevron has not omitted any information and has implemented all emergency procedures required. In an indication that the oil spill has not been completely stanched he said, "The company will be fined when the spill is contained because the value of the fine is proportional to the environmental damage caused." The well is part of the Chevron-operated Frade project, located 1,200 meters underwater, 370 kilometers off the northeastern coast of Rio de Janeiro state (Lehman, 2011).

Brazilian officials were sharpening their criticism against Chevron and suggesting the company could lose its license to drill in the country's deepest waters. Magda Chambriard, ANP’s director, said during a press conference that Chevron "acted in complete violation of its concession contract and Brazilian law." Officials said the company was unprepared to respond to the spill and accused it of editing video images of the oil seeping from the ocean floor, which Chevron denies doing. Haroldo Lima, ANP’s president, said of the company's recent request to drill another well in the same field, "the result may not be what the company expected previously." Chevron admitted making a critical error that it believes led to the spill. The well has been plugged, the company said, and the oil seepage through cracks in the ocean floor was declining. Chevron said it had believed it was operating within the terms of its concession and was able to stanch the source of the seep within four days. "We have not received any official notice from the appropriate governmental authority" regarding the company's ability to drill onshore or offshore, a spokesman said in a statement. The company faced as much as $139 million in fines; Brazil's leading environmental regulator had already announced a $28 million penalty. Analysts played down the impact of the fines on Chevron, which has $14 billion cash in hand, and the prospect that the second-largest U.S. oil producer could lose it license to operate in Brazil. "I find it hard to believe that they would have to completely walk away and recoup none of their investments," said Blake Fernandez, an analyst at Howard Weil. "That would not set a very good precedent for Brazil to attract other companies to do business" (Fick, 2011).

Federal investigators were threatening potential prison terms for Chevron’s officials if they were found guilty of violating environmental contamination laws. Marina Silva, a former environment minister and presidential candidate, said in a telephone interview that the spill served as a warning as Brazil moved ahead with exceedingly complex projects to produce oil from its “pre-salt” discoveries, beneath waters almost 10,000 feet deep and thick layers of salt, sand and rock. “This event is a three-dimensional alert to the problems that may occur,” Ms. Silva said. “This certainly does not smell good.” Despite Chevron’s assertions that the problem was contained, it faced mounting criticism from various other quarters in Brazil. Legislators said they would summon Chevron officials to appear for questioning. Brazilian President, Dilma Roussef, ordered a fast investigation to identify the exact causes of the incident and the enactment of punishment to culprits (Cruz, 2011).

Chevron plans to continue its expansion in Brazil. As the oil giant tries to contain the political fallout of a spill off the South American nation's coast, auctions for oil concessions in Brazil are now suspended. Chevron was ordered to halt its drilling in Brazil pending investigations by the federal police and other authorities. The company had acknowledged it wrongly estimated pressure and rock strength in the reservoir it was targeting. Chevron is the majority stakeholder in the Frade concession with Brazil's state-run Petrobras and a Japanese consortium. Chevron's chief for Latin America and Africa, Ali Moshiri, described as premature the government's ban on its drilling activities. "We plan to continue participating in new auctions for oil exploration blocks in Brazil, if there is creation of value and benefits," Moshiri said in a press conference in Rio de Janeiro (Coimbra, 2011).

Conclusion

Chevron’s incident revealed internal political battles over the control of pre-salt oil in Brazil. This event has also exposed traditional political structures and drivers for decision making in the country. In addition, the oil spill gave room to nationalist measures and unveiled several contradictions between rhetoric and practice. Brazilian public agencies and civil society have the opportunity to tap into the immediate post-disaster period to set a foundation for broad communication, planning, and legal structures and debates over responsibilities, standards and procedures over emergency responses for national and international companies drilling deepwater horizon oil off the coast. Although crises can have devastating effects on the organization and its stakeholders, these events can also be resolved positively as long as the communication following a crisis plays an integral role in this success (Ulmer, 2011).

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