ABSTRACT
The UN Sustainable Development Goals constitute a bench of directives with a universal scope to establish actions to mitigate poverty and protect the environment. Benefiting from the Environmental-Economic Accounting for Water recently published in Brazil, it is possible to harmonize the demand of water and the economic sectors. To this end, this study conducted an input-output analysis and structural decomposition analysis to explore the water consumption of the Brazilian Economy and its driving forces during an unprecedented drought and economic recession between 2013 and 2015. The results indicate that the total variation of the water consumption in the period is 15%. Between 2013 and 2014, the total effect was positive, causing an increase of 45% in the embodied water consumption, having as main driver the final demand and the intensity effect. In the second period, the total intensity effect was negative, provoking a decrease of -10% in the total water consumption. The "Agriculture, livestock, forestry and fishing" is the main sector responsible for these positive and negative results, while the "Energy and gas natural supply" sector has a strategic position to avoid a structural increase on the economic water demand.
Subject(s)
Agriculture , Water , Animals , Brazil , Livestock , Water SupplyABSTRACT
Environmental impact assessments in Brazil have usually focused solely on project-related issues without considering the regional context. Although required by current environmental legislation, cumulative impact assessments have not been included in the overall environmental assessment of projects. However, in recent Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) studies of policies, plans, and programs undertaken on a voluntary basis in support of the decision-making process, this kind of assessment has been performed especially with respect to air quality. This paper presents the application of a methodology for the quantification of cumulative impacts on air quality under high uncertainty caused by various mining activities in a single region that is recommended for SEA studies. In this way, the methodology presented here is suitable for areas lacking detailed modeling information. The developed approach uses a relatively simplified mathematical model, lowering information gathering costs and requiring little processing time. The application of the methodology is illustrated in the case of a SEA of the Corumbá Mining and Industrial Complex Development Program. Despite the lack of data needed for a minimum characterization of conditions of the area surrounding the region modeled, the quantification of impact cumulativeness on air quality has played an important role in the context of the SEA.
