Abstract
Because of several factors (including climate change, technological development, decisions regarding land use, modern economic conditions, population growth, and demographic trends), climate-related disasters have significantly increased in recent decades. Climate change can be considered a common global problem. This is because, among other reasons, the benefits obtained by an individual from an action that generates greenhouse gas emissions impose a cost on others—the environment, future generations, and individuals from other countries (particularly the least developed countries). Advances in climate science have provided a clearer understanding of the phenomenon and its response to human and natural influences. However, it is known that the effects of climate change on the environment and society will depend on not only the response of the Earth system but also humanity’s behaviour in the face of change. In this context, this article asserts that there is a relationship between unsustainable consumption, climate change, and disasters, and then analyses this relationship. From this perspective, it proposes a reflection on the role of unsustainable consumption, in what will be called a negative feedback process, with the potential for vulnerability to disasters linked to extreme climatic events.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
According to Brasil (2017): ‘(1) By changes in the amount of energy reaching the surface of the Earth; (2) by changes in the orbit of the Earth or of the sun itself; (3) by changes in the amount of energy reaching the surface of the Earth that is reflected back to space, due to the presence of clouds or particles in the atmosphere (also called aerosols, resulting from burnings, for example); and (4) thanks to alterations in the amount of longer wave energy reflected back into space, due to changes in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.’
- 3.
According to Brasil (2017): ‘Emissions occur in practically all human activities and sectors of the economy: in agriculture, through the preparation of the soil for planting and fertilization; in animal husbandry, through the treatment of manure and the enteric fermentation of cattle; in transportation, through the use of fossil fuels such as gasoline and natural gas; in the treatment of solid residues, via the way trash is treated and disposed of; in the forests, through deforestation and forest degradation; and in industry, through production processes, for example of cement, aluminium, iron and steel.’
- 4.
Brasil (2011). To meet such targets, the first step is to identify at-risk areas, vegetal coverage, and soil composition on relief maps. In the federal project, the mapping of about 500 at-risk areas on slopes and 300 inundated areas is anticipated. The project also anticipated investment in structure and monitoring equipment, such as radar and pluviometers.
- 5.
Porfiriev (1998), p. 62.
- 6.
As textually expounded in Art. 4, III, of Law 12608/12: ‘Art. 4. The PNPDEC guidelines are as follows: III. The priority given to preventive actions related to reducing disasters to a minimum.’
- 7.
Under Article 5, I, of Law No. 12608/12: ‘Among the goals of the PNPDEC are:… I–to reduce the risk of disasters.’
- 8.
Art. 20, § 20 of Law No. 12608/12.
- 9.
- 10.
- 11.
Under Article 23 of Law No. 12608/12.
- 12.
- 13.
Sugerman (2007), p. 3.
- 14.
Ségur (1997), p. 1693.
- 15.
Ibid.
- 16.
According to Depuy (2007), pp. 1192–1193: ‘The totally unprecedented fact that characterizes our science- and technique-based societies is that we are now capable of unleashing such processes in and upon nature. Tomorrow’s droughts, cyclones and tsunamis, or what time will tell (this time, which has always been a metaphor of nature) will be the product of our actions. … They will be the unexpected products of the irreversible processes that we will have unleashed, most of the time without having wanted to do so or even known.’
- 17.
- 18.
- 19.
Kysar and Vandenbergh (2008).
- 20.
Vandenbergh and Steinemann (2007), p. 1673.
- 21.
Fundação Konrad Adenauer (2017).
- 22.
United Nations. ONUBrb (2017).
- 23.
Fleurbaey et al. (2014).
- 24.
United Nations. ONUBrb (2017).
- 25.
United Nations. ONUBrb (2017), p. 1.
- 26.
IPCC (2014), p. 114.
- 27.
United Nations (2019).
- 28.
‘How: eradication of poverty, food security and agriculture, health, education, gender equality, reduction of inequalities, energy, water and sanitation, sustainable patterns of production and consumption, climate change, sustainable cities, protection and sustainable use of the oceans and terrestrial ecosystems, inclusive economic growth, infrastructure and industrialization, governance, and means of implementation’ (see United Nations 2016).
- 29.
United Nations (2016).
- 30.
Ferrer et al. (2014), pp. 1433–1464.
- 31.
Article 3, XVII. Brasil (2010) (emphasis added).
- 32.
- 33.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2016).
- 34.
American Meteorological Society (2018).
- 35.
Information about the project. Climate Central (2017).
- 36.
Statistics from Detran-SP (Departamento Estadual de Trânsito de São Paulo), the body responsible for distributing licence plates of vehicles that circulate in the state, show that from January to December 2016, the city of São Paulo acquired 114,800 cars. See: Valle (2017).
- 37.
- 38.
‘CPFL Energia, in partnership with the Rede Graal, installed 25 charging stations for electric vehicles at certain points in the city of Campinas, on the Bandeirantes highway and in Anhanguera. Public recharge is still free of charge, because the charges for this type of refill have not been set by the National Electrical Energy Agency (ANEEL). The idea is to get a head start and understand how the market may develop, starting with the creation of this infrastructure. The organization’s projection is that by 2030, between 4 and 10 million electric vehicles will be circulating in Brazil.’ (AmCham Brasil 2017).
- 39.
Brasil (2009).
- 40.
Bronzatti and Iarozinski Neto (2008).
- 41.
Brasil (2011).
- 42.
Altoé (2017), pp. 285–297.
- 43.
According to Garcia (2017): ‘Besides the drought, two other facts explain the crisis. First, the government reduced the tariff at the very moment when costs were rising, encouraging wasteful use and creating an enormous deficit among the distributors, which had to be bailed out with federal money. Second, the government delayed the generation and transmission works and decided to auction off power, privileging low price and not providing the rates of return that the market was asking for.’
- 44.
It is important to mention that since 2009, the National Water Agency (ANA) has periodically organized the Conjuntura Water Resources Report in Brazil, in which data on water and its management in the national territory are systematized. The most recent version was published in 2017. Agência Nacional de Águas (2017).
- 45.
Article 3, XVII. Brasil (2010).
- 46.
Article 3, XII. Brasil (2010).
- 47.
Anderson (2012), p. 1.
- 48.
Ivanova et al. (2016), pp. 526–536.
- 49.
Farber (2012), p. 1479.
- 50.
Ibid.
- 51.
Ibid.
- 52.
Ibid, pp. 1479, 1482.
- 53.
Vandenbergh and Steinemann (2007), pp. 1673–1745.
- 54.
Ibid, p. 1704.
- 55.
Vandenbergh and Steinemann (2007), p. 1690.
- 56.
Ibid, p. 1705.
- 57.
Farber (1992), p. 66.
- 58.
Babcock (2009), pp. 1–18.
- 59.
Babcock (2009).
- 60.
Salzman (1997), p. 1252.
- 61.
Ibid.
- 62.
Ibid.
- 63.
- 64.
Lazarus (1993), p. 787.
- 65.
Salzman (1997), pp. 1243–1292.
- 66.
Salzman (1997), p. 1256.
- 67.
Ibid.
- 68.
The data were obtained from the article: Ajl (2017).
- 69.
Tirone (2017).
- 70.
Ibid.
- 71.
European Commission (2016).
- 72.
BBC (2008).
- 73.
It deals with consumer protection and makes other provisions. See: Brasil (1990).
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de Carvalho, D.W., Damacena, F.D.L. (2020). The Role of Sustainable Consumption and Disaster Law in Climate Risk Management. In: Amaral Junior, A.d., Almeida, L.d., Klein Vieira, L. (eds) Sustainable Consumption. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16985-5_6
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