STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR PLANNING SUGARCANE EXPANSION: A FRAMEWORK PROPOSAL

GALLARDO, AMARILIS LUCIA CASTELI FIGUEIREDO; DUARTE, CARLA GRIGOLETTO; DIBO, ANA PAULA ALVES

doi:10.1590/1809-4422ASOC127007V1922016

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Articles • Ambient. soc. 19 (2) • Apr-Jun 2016 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1809-4422ASOC127007V1922016 copy

STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR PLANNING SUGARCANE EXPANSION: A FRAMEWORK PROPOSAL¹ 1 . The first author thanks for the Institute for Technological Research (IPT) for funding her post-doctoral research. The second author thanks for CNPq for financing her doctoral research, completed in 2013, and FAPESP for funding her post-doctoral research in 2014-2016 (Process 2013 / 04285-0). The third author thanks for Fapesp and Capes for funding master's research, completed in 2013, and for Capes for the doctoral research funding in progress. The authors thank the colleague Edna Gubitoso, IPT, for supporting the review of citations and references.

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Abstract

The Brazilian sugarcane industry has experienced a rapid expansion during the 2000s. The prediction of the sugarcane crop expansion in the coming decades raises controversy about social and environmental impacts, which are partially evaluated in the current energy planning. In order to integrate these discussions to the decision-making, this article aims at presenting a Strategic Environmental Assessment framework to support the sugarcane expansion planning as presented in the national Decennial Energy Plan. The main positive aspects of this framework include: the integration of environmental, social and economic issues providing strategic focus and sustainability to the decision-making; the proposition of sustainability indicators whose data are available for watershed scale; and guidelines for analyzing alternative scenarios established in the energy planning. The authors believe this framework allows integrating sustainability into the decision-making of the sugarcane expansion planning supported by the Strategic Environmental Assessment.

Keywords
Strategic Environmental Assessment; sugarcane; sugarcane ethanol; sustainability; energy planning

ANPPAS - Revista Ambiente e Sociedade Anppas / Revista Ambiente e Sociedade - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
E-mail: revistaambienteesociedade@gmail.com

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Performance criteria	Comments on the proposed SEA roadmap
Integrated	The roadmap covers sustainability issues related to the sugarcane expansion for defining and for performing a comprehensive analysis of the critical decision factors that were discussed in thematic workshops with experts for integrating themes.
Sustainability-led	The roadmap provides the consideration of various development alternatives related to the projections of scenarios of the sugarcane sector expansion and monitoring by using sustainability indicators.
Focused	The roadmap enables the definition of strategic objectives which are directed to the main relevant issues regarding the sustainable expansion of sugarcane, which in turn can be integrated into the analysis of the proposed sustainability indicators.
Accountable	The roadmap as proposed can be carried out in a transparent and participatory manner, allowing detailed consultation by the public about the decisions taken and their justifications.
Participative	The roadmap is proposed to accommodate broad public participation in several stages, as well as that of the specialized technical and scientific community.
Iterative	The roadmap is presented to only one of the planning cycles, wherein in the next cycles review and suggestions for modifications and adjustments may occur, based on continuous improvement.

CDF	Description
Land use change and food security	Corresponds to understanding the current land use change process, aiming to capture the relationship between the sugarcane plantations expansion, with the remaining areas of agricultural, pastoral and ecological protection. The objective is to identify whether and how the trends of planned sugarcane expansion are occurring. The food security issue is also a theme present in this context.
Land ownership and control instruments	Considers the assessment of issues related to land ownership and the legal relationship of the sugarcane-producing areas . The relevant aspects are inserted to demonstrate the suitability of areas for sugarcane expansion, by specific devices such as the Agro-Environmental and Agro-Ecological Zoning and other planning instruments related to River Basins Plans, Management Plans and Master Plans that interfere with the sugarcane expansion.
Ecosystem services	As regards natural resources, from the perspective of ecosystem services, which should be used based on the assumptions of sustainable development. For natural resources affected by the SEA object, surface and underground water resources, biodiversity and soil resources are considered. Waste and inputs compose this balance in order to reduce the consumption of natural resources.
Local community well-being	Aims to understand how the sugarcane expansion may affect the socioeconomic and environmental dynamics of the area under review. Considers the implications of generating employment, remuneration and income distribution, in addition to issues related to the working conditions of employees in the sugarcane industry, particularly of the crop, cases of slave labor, among others. Infrastructure and access to sanitation, as well as working conditions issues are also considered.
Air quality and greenhouse gases	Considers aspects relative to air quality and respiratory health, especially related to the implications of sugarcane burning in practice. Issues such as energy efficiency by cogeneration and reducing greenhouse gas emissions underlie the aspects highlighted here.

CDF	Sustainability indicators (Greatness/Parameter and unit of measurement)	Data availability
Land use change and food security	1. Relation between crop area and total area - %	X
	2. Relation between sugarcane crop area and total area - %	X
	3. Relation between area with vegetation and total area - %	X
	4. Relation between silviculture area and total area - %	X
	5. Relation between cattle area and total area - %	X
	6. Relation between urbanized area and total area - %	X
	7. Areas occupied by permanent and temporary crops (per crop types) - ha	X
	8. Amount of production of permanent and temporary crops (per crop types) - t	X
	9. Number of head of cattle per pasture area - n^o/ha	X
Land ownership and control instruments	10. Relation between areas considered with high and medium ability for sugarcane cropping in the agroenvironmental zoning and total area - %	-
	11. Relation between the area considered available for cropping sugarcane and total area - %	-
	12. Relation between the whole area and area cropped by sugarcane - %	-
	13. Number of properties registered in the same location of another property - n^o	-
Ecosystem services	14. Number of monitored points with Trophic State Index, classified as mesotrophic, oligotrophic and ultraoligotrophic, regarding the total number of monitored points - %	X
	15. Number of monitored points with the Water Quality Index classified as Good and Optimum regarding the total number of points monitored - %	X
	16. Number of monitored wells whose water is classified as potable water relative to the total number of wells monitored - %	X
	17. Total volume of granted water - m³/year	X
	18. Relation between the volume of granted water for irrigation and the total volume of granted water - %	X
	19. Conflicts due to the extraction or use of surface water and groundwater, per type - nº	-
	20. Annual amount of soil loss by erosion - t/ha.year	X
	21. Annual amount of agrochemicals used - kg/ha.year	-
	22. Amount of agribusiness waste (vinasse and filter cake) used - kg/ha.year	-
	23. Relation between the area occupied by forest fragments and total area - %	X
	24. Relation between the area occupied by the Conservation Units of integral protection and total area - %	X
	25. Relation between the area occupied by the Conservation Units of sustainable use and total area - %	X
	26. Relation between Permanent Preservation Areas with vegetation cover and total Permanent Preservation Areas - %	X
	27. Relation between the endorsed Legal Reserve Area and total area - %	-
	28. Number of penalties for violations of environmental regulations relating to flora and fauna - nº	-
Local community and well-being	29. Geometric rate of annual growth - % a.a.	X
	30. Urbanization rate - %	X
	31. Number of formal employment relationships of men and women, according to educational level (agriculture, livestock, industry, civil construction, trade and services in total) - nº	X
	32. Relation between the number of jobs in agricultural activity and total employment - %	X
	33. Relation between the average wage paid to employees in the sugarcane crop and the minimum wage - %	-
	34. Annual number of people in slave labor - nº	X
	35. Relation between the number of households connected to the sewage system and total households - %	X
	36. Volume of treated sewage in relation to the total sewage collected - %	X
	37. Relation between the number of households provided with solid waste collection and total households - %	X
	38. Quality index of number of the landfills - nº	X
	39. Annual number of records of accidents associated with sugarcane farming - nº	-
	40. Annual number of records of deaths resulting from work associated with sugarcane farming - nº	-
Air quality and greenhouse gases	41. Rate of hospitalization for acute respiratory infection in children under 5 years of age - nº/1.000 hab.year	X
	42. Relation between the number of days and total days in the year, in which the air quality standard exceeds the parameters: total suspended particulates, inhalable particulate matter (PM 10) and Nitrogen Dioxide - %	X
	43. Number of days per year in which sugarcane burning occured - %	-
	44. Relation between the number of establishments which comply with the goals of phasing out sugarcane burning and total establishments which still operate with sugarcane burning - %	X

CDF	Scenarios
Land use change and food security	Business-as-usual scenario: food production levels are significantly reduced in the watershed, with the replacement of mainly maize crops, are the most affected by this replacement.
Land use change and food security	Sustainability scenario: areas of underutilized pasture would be sufficient to meet the land demand for cropping sugarcane in a moderate sugarcane expansion. Eventual replacement of crops would have no significant impact on food production levels in the watershed.
Land ownership and control instruments	Business-as-usual scenario: the expansion of sugarcane would be directed to areas defined by the integrated analysis of the current land use map and the Agro-Ecological Zoning sugarcane map .
Land ownership and control instruments	Sustainability scenario: for identifying suitable areas for accommodating sugarcane expansion, an integrated analysis of current land use, the Agro-ecological sugarcane zoning, Watershed plans, Management Plans and Municipal Master Plans and the contents of applicable control instruments is undertaken.
Ecossystem Services	Business-as-usual scenario: replacing food production areas can reduce the supply of cultural and regulation ecosystem services and cultural adjustment.
Ecossystem Services	Sustainability scenario: sugarcane crops preferably replace underutilized pasture areas while still respecting ecological corridors helping to increase ecosystem services supply.
Welfare of the local community	Business-as-usual scenario: sugarcane expansion will not necessarily be coupled to socioeconomic improvements in the municipalities and workers affected.
Welfare of the local community	Sustainability scenario: sugarcane expansion should reflect an improvement in the employees' working conditions and also in the socioeconomic conditions of the municipalities affected.
Air quality and greenhouse gases	Business-as-usual scenario: the increase in the areas of sugarcane expansion for supplying biofuels targets contributes to the partial substitution of fossil fuels and consequently reduces the emission of greenhouse gases and improves air quality in general.
Air quality and greenhouse gases	Sustainability scenario: a moderate expansion in sugarcane crops tends to encourage the development of alternative sources of energy and consequently to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases within the limits imposed by the other CFDs. Good practice in sugarcane handling and harvest should be used for keeping good health and safety conditions at work and air quality.