Public sector and sustainable development: a review of environmental management actions in Brazil (1973-2002)

Abstract

In this work, we evaluate environmental management actions in Brazil. Our analysis considers the period from the creation of SEMA (Secretaria Especial do Meio Ambiente) in 1973 to the end of Fernando Henrique Cardoso's government in 2002. Authors found out that Brazilian environmental management actions during this period were characterized by an excessively preservationist outlook – which only worried about protecting the flora and the fauna through the creation of conservation units and pollution control.  It is also clear that that the management of natural resources in Brazil has been undermined by many factors such as insufficient financial, material and human resources.