Nexus Water-Energy-Food (Wef) como instrumento de sustentabilidade na Amazônia: análise do grau de correspondências existente entre o Relatório Nexus WEF e a expansão da cadeia global de valor do óleo de palma no nordeste paraense

Abstract

The general objective of the research focused on analyzing the degree of correspondence between the guidelines underpinning the report “Understanding the Water, Energy, and Food Security Nexus: Solutions for the Green Economy”, as an international instrument of sustainability governance, and the current rapid expansion of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) production areas in the Amazon, considering two main criteria: (i) the interdependence characterizing the interaction of environmental, social, and institutional scales in the Amazon region of Pará; and (ii) the cross-sectoral integration of policies aimed at the global value chain of oil palm in the region. The construction of the study’s framework was based on literature providing scientific insights on: a) the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework; b) the Cross-scale interplay; c) the current Amazonian panorama of oil palm global value chain expansion in the Northeast mesoregion of Pará; d) the methodologies, methods, and methodological tools selected to support the achievement of the research objectives; and e) academic critiques addressing the legitimacy of standardized development instruments promoted by transnational governance models. The methodological process was divided into five sequential phases: I – State of the Art, II – Study Area Recognition and Initial Proposals, III – Survey and Systematization of Public Policies, IV – Field Research, and V – Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). At the end of this process, the chapter “Results and Discussion” was elaborated, composed of two sections: the first derived from exploratory field research, and the second from fuzzy-set analysis using FsQCA 4.1. The results obtained throughout the study – both from the exploratory analysis and the application of the QCA methodology – revealed weaknesses in the comparison between the report’s guidelines and the two evaluative criteria defined by the researcher. The first section highlighted the intensification of structural socioenvironmental problems, particularly in territories of traditional Amazonian populations, and indicated weaknesses in the regulatory capacity of the State in the face of the oil palm global value chain expansion in Northeast Pará. The second section revealed low degrees of correspondence between the report’s guidelines and the two pre-defined evaluative criteria. Regarding the first criterion, no necessity relationships were identified between the causal conditions analyzed and the observed outcomes in the Pará municipalities concentrating the commodity’s production; nor was it possible to establish sufficiency relationships in the individual conditions or combinations extracted from the framework for each municipal outcome. Concerning the second criterion, there was a predominance of limited causal configurations. Specifically, it was found that two cases shared the same combination of total absence of causal conditions, and only one case presented a single causal condition as present. Thus, evident weaknesses were inferred from the comparison between the report’s guidelines and the two evaluative criteria. It was concluded that the findings in the “Results and Discussion” chapter revealed complex and revealing evidence, highlighting contrasts between the concerns underpinning current transnational environmental policy agendas (especially those developed by international cooperation entities) and the multiple demands, problems, and concerns observed in developing nations, which often have structural characteristics.