An in-depth look at Brazil’s “Social Fuel Seal”

Even though the Brazilian biofuels revolution has been a scientific, agronomic and technological success, it has not been a very equitable one. Professor Ignacy Sachs, economist at the EHESS, green geopolitical thinker, eminence grise of development economics, and expert [*.pdf] on the social effects of Brazil’s ethanol industry, is formal: the sector has strengthened an age-old tradition with roots going back to the colonial era, in which the increasing concentration of capital, land and power, and the commodification of rural labor go hand in hand.

The left-leaning Brazilian government is now trying to create a rupture in this complex situation by implementing unique legislation that offers the opportunity to make biofuels the motor of a process in which the redistribution of wealth and the fight against rural poverty are key, and which provides secure livelihoods to poor farmers.

Biopact