https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8089-4635
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ABSTRACT
Early assessment of environmental issues is key for sound decision-making about licensing of offshore oil and gas exploration sites. In this paper, we recall the historical background of such early assessments in Brazil showing that a simple consultation process in place for the last 15 years was able to steer oil and gas exploration away from sensitive areas. A more structured SEA-type instrument was designed in 2012, but its actual contribution to the effectiveness of early assessments remains to be seen as the first assessment reports are still to be delivered. Recent changes in the institutional and political context in Brazil have enabled the new government to ignore both the established consultation process and the ongoing SEA-type process. This shift of orientation led to the inclusion of environmentally sensitive areas in bidding rounds in 2019. Following this government decision, various initiatives to preserve the recommendations from the previous consultation process have illustrated the relevance of environmental/impact assessment not only to ease decision-making processes but also as a tool to safeguard environmental protection.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Correction Statement
This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.
Notes
1. See a dozen examples in Appendix A.
2. All the acronyms for Brazilian institutions are presented according to their Portuguese writing.
3. ‘Open your eyes’ is the original meaning of ‘Abrolhos’ (contraction for ‘Abra os olhos’).