Environmentalism and the Globalization of the Oil Industry in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

• Published date: 01 September 2018
• Date: 01 September 2018
• Author: Maria Guadalupe Moog Rodrigues
• DOI: 10.1177/0094582X18781880
• Subject Matter: Articles

LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES, Issue 222, Vol. 45 No. 5, September 2018, 186–203

DOI: 10.1177/0094582X18781880

© 2018 Latin American Perspectives

186

Environmentalism and the Globalization of the Oil

Industry in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

by

Maria Guadalupe Moog Rodrigues

The state of Rio de Janeiro has become a hub for oil and gas production and infrastruc-

ture since Brazil entered the global oil market in the 2000s. Observers have anticipated

increasing tensions between environmental activists and oil companies. These predictions

have not been fulfilled, despite increasing evidence of environmental degradation caused

by oil production. What could be hindering environmental mobilization in defense of the

environment and affected populations and against the unrestrained expansion of oil infra-

structure in the state? A longitudinal case study of environmental activism in defense of

the Guanabara Bay ecosystem suggests that answers must consider the combined effects

of democratization, political and regulatory decentralization, and neoliberal reforms on

socioenvironmental activism—specifically, its weakening as civil society organizations

confront increasing burdens of participation in policy making, deeply fragmented institu-

tional and regulatory frameworks for environmental governance, and the expansion of

opportunities to engage in collaborative arrangements with corporations.

O Estado do Rio de Janeiro tornou-se o centro da infraestrutura e produção de gás e

petróleo desde que o Brasil ingressou no mercado internacional de petróleo nos anos 2000.

Analistas vêm antecipando crescente tensão entre ativistas ambientais e companhias

petrolíferas. Contudo, essas previsões não se concretizaram, não obstante evidência da

degradação ambiental que a produção de petróleo vem causando. O que poderia estar

impedindo a mobilização em defesa do meio ambiente e populações afetadas, e contra a

expansão desmedida da infraestrutura petrolífera no estado? Um estudo de caso longitu-

dinal do ativismo ambiental em defesa dos ecossistemas da Baía de Guanabara sugere que

as repostas a essa questão devem considerar os efeitos combinados da democratização,

descentralização política e regulatória, e reformas neoliberais no ativismo socioambien-

tal—especificamente, seu enfraquecimento à medida que organizações da sociedade civil

confrontam crescentes custos de participação nas políticas públicas, fragmentação de arc-

abouços regulatórios e institucionais de governança ambiental, e a expansão de oportuni-

dades de engajamento em arranjos colaborativos com corporações.

Keywords: Oil industry, Brazil, Guanabara Bay, Environmental activism, Environmental

governance

The 2007 discovery of deep-sea oil and gas reserves off the southeast coast of

Brazil launched the country into the club of major oil-producing nations in the

world. Brazil’s output may be equivalent to that of Mexico and Venezuela

781880LAPXXX10.1177/0094582X18781880Latin American PerspectivesRodrigues / ENVIRONMENTALISM AND OIL IN RIO DE JANEIRO

research-article2018

Maria Guadalupe Moog Rodrigues is professor of political science at the College of the Holy Cross

in Worcester, MA. Her research focuses on transnational and domestic environmental advocacy

in the developing world, particularly in Latin America.

Rodrigues / ENVIRONMENTALISM AND OIL IN RIO DE JANEIRO 187

(Economist, 2009). The state of Rio de Janeiro accounts for more than 60 percent

of the national production of oil and gas (FIRJAN, 2016: 7). It is host to oil refin-

eries, a petrochemical complex, and oil platform repair facilities owned by

Petrobras, the Brazilian oil company, the majority of whose shares is held by the

government. Observers have anticipated an increase in tensions between envi-

ronmental activists and oil-related public and private interests in the state

(Milanez, 2016). Recent history lends credence to this expectation; between

2000 and 2001 the local environmental movement mounted an unprecedented

campaign to demand that Petrobras be held accountable for a major oil spill in

Guanabara Bay, one of the state’s natural treasures. However, while the

Brazilian environmental movement is renowned for its activism, which has

scored significant victories against development interests both nationally and

globally,1 predictions of increased environmentalist resistance to the oil indus-

try have not been fulfilled to date. What is hindering environmentalist mobili-

zation in defense of the local environment and affected populations and against

the unrestrained expansion of oil operations and infrastructure?

Answers to this question must consider the combined effects on environ-

mental activism of democratization, political and regulatory decentralization,

and neoliberal reforms. The Brazilian constitution of 1988 completed the coun-

try’s transition from authoritarian rule to democracy. It decentralized compe-

tencies once held by federal agencies to state and municipal ones.2 The intense

participation of Brazilian civil society organizations in the political transition

enshrined both in the constitution and in political practice the principle of par-

ticipatory policy making. Civil society organizations are to be invited by state

agencies to participate in policy design and implementation.

This trend, though consolidated in the 1990s, intensified with the ascent to the

presidency of the Partido dos Trabalhadores (Workers’ Party—PT) and its dom-

inance of Brazilian politics between 2002 and 2016. This coincided with the dis-

covery of offshore oil reserves and accentuated the economic and political

predominance of the state-controlled oil giant Petrobras in development initia-

tives throughout Brazil and in Rio de Janeiro in particular. The number of permit

applications for oil-related projects in Rio de Janeiro rose exponentially. As envi-

ronmental legislation demanded compensatory and mitigation measures from

oil and related infrastructure companies and such companies attempted to com-

ply with global demands for establishing responsible environmental profiles,3

funding abounded for environmental rehabilitation, ecosystems restoration,

and environmentally sustainable income-generation initiatives managed by

environmental nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), environmental con-

sulting agencies, and community associations and grassroots groups. The com-

bined burdens of participating in policy making, navigating deeply fragmented

institutional and regulatory frameworks for environmental governance, and

confronting the intrasector tensions induced by competition to enter into col-

laborative arrangements with corporations have weakened environmental

activism in Rio de Janeiro and throughout the country.

Alternative explanations for the weakening of environmental activism in Rio

de Janeiro and the limited resistance of civil society to the impacts of oil industry

expansion may include the absence of the resources usually mustered by interna-

tional NGOs. These organizations have historically played a critical role in efforts