Brazil has been increasingly reducing the consumption of harmful substances to the ozone layer, even exceeding the goals established by the Montreal Protocol.

Brazil has been increasingly reducing the consumption of harmful substances to the ozone layer, even exceeding the goals established by the Montreal Protocol. The CFC consumption, used in refrigerators, aerosols, solvents, and fire extinguishers has dropped from 11.1 thousand tons in 1992 to 4.3 thousand tons in 2003.

The concentration of the majority of the atmospheric pollutants – inhalable particles, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide – is now stationary or in decline in the majority of the metropolitan regions of the Country, with its maximum concentrations decreasing throughout time. The only exception is the ozone, that functions in the stratosphere as a barrier against the ultraviolet rays but in the low atmosphere is a harmful oxidizing agent for the inhabitants of large cities.

Mainly caused to transform native words into agro-pastoral areas, the burnings and forest fires remain uncontrolled, with tendency to increase and destroying large vegetation areas every year. In 2003, were detected via satellite, in all regions of the Country, almost 213 thousand focuses of heat. The deforestation rate of the Legal Amazon presents high values, which are also reason of concern since there is not a tendency to decline.

The growth of the agricultural and cattle raising productivity caused that, from 1992 to 2002, the quantity of fertilizers used in Brazilian lands has increased in two point five times. In 2002, for 53.5 million of hectares planted, Brazil used 7.6 million tons of fertilizers. In the same year, only Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul consumed 2.1 million tons.

Although the use of agrotoxic products reveals a tendency of stability, it was possible to verify that the farmers have chosen for less toxic products. Among those with highest percentage of consumption are the herbicides (more than 50% of the total), associated to the model of direct plantation (without revolving the earth), which allows the growth of weeds. In 2001, for 50.7 million of hectares of planted area, Brazil used 158.7 thousand tons of agrotoxic products, 91.8 thousand tons of which of herbicides.

All the pieces of information above are included in the Indicators of Sustainable Growth 2004, from IBGE [Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics]. Divided into four areas of interest – environmental, social, economic, and institutional – this publication contains a set of 59 indicators for the sustainability of the Brazilian development. This work, the first issue of which being published by IBGE in 2002, is the result from an international movement – which has been intensified after ECO 92 and is coordinated by the Committee for Sustainable Growth of the United Nations – to consolidate compatible international indicators, allowing the accompaniment of the theme worldwide.

The IDS 2004 also counts on information in the social, economic, and institutional areas. The indicators demonstrate that the number of internments due to diseases related to the lack of basic sanitation has decreased, at the extent in which the number of victims of homicides and traffic accidents has increased. The GPD per capita, the consumption per capita of energy and minerals, the participation of material recycled in industrial activities and the generation and storage of radioactive waste are also included in the IDS 2004. The expenditures with Research and Development and with the protection to the environment, as well as with the number of domiciles and schools with access to the Internet are included in the institutional indicators.

The second issue of the IDS – with 12 new indicators in relation to the first one – it brings information on the bathing quality of beaches in coastal cities, on the quality of the waters of rivers and dams, on the burnings and forest fires, deforestation, basic sanitation, desertification, animal traffic, basic sanitation, etc.

Brazil is considered one of the 12 countries in the planet provided with the so-called mega-diversity. These countries, if put together, comprise 70% of the total biodiversity of the country. However, there are 398 species of terrestrial animals under risk of extinction in the Country, among mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects, not counting the aquatic fauna, threatened by the construction of dams, by the destruction of woods and swamps, and by the pollution of rivers and coastal areas. Furthermore, it is estimated that the traffic is stealing from the nature, per year, approximately 38 million animals worldwide. In Brazil, the birds are the main goal of the animal dealers, especially macaws, toucans, parrots, and e rheas, which represent 82% of the animals seized between 1999 and 2000. But the turtles, land turtles, and snakes are in the aim of hunters and smugglers, since the international quoting of the snake poison varies from 400 to 30 thousand Dollars a gram.

Number of internments due to diseases related to lack of sanitation has decreased

Investigating the internments motivated by a group of diseases – grouped by Fiocruz – related to lack of sanitation, such as diarrheas, hepatitis A, enteric fevers, and dengue, it is possible to verify that in Brazil, in 1993, occurred 730 internments to each one hundred thousand inhabitants, while in 2002, there were 375 internments. Rondônia (1,200) and Piauí (1,198) presented the worst scenario in 2002, while São Paulo (105) and Distrito Federal (120) presented the best overall scenarios. The IDS also retracts the Offer of Basic Health Services, through the number of hospital beds, Health establishments, and medical work station for each one thousand inhabitants, for the Large Regions and Unities of the Federation.

Still in the social area, another important indicator is the Adequateness of housing, retracting the number of domiciles that simultaneously have density of up to two residents per domicile, direct and indirect waste collection by a cleaning services company, water supply by general network and sanitary treatment through collection network or septic tank. These numbers have increased significantly from 1992 (36.8%) to 2002 (50.6%), but almost half of the domiciles in the Country are not framed in the adequateness criteria. Tocantins (14.3%) has the lowest percentage and the Federal District the highest (69.9%).

The IDS also quantifies homicides and victims of the traffic

The Coefficient of mortality per homicides is included as one of the social indicators that integrate the IDS and is one of the few decreasing: occurred 19.21 deaths by homicide for each 100 thousand inhabitants in 1992 and, in 2001, the number was 27.84. The huge difference between the genders remains: 35.57 for man and 3.19 for women in 1992, against 51.96 and 4.40 in 2001, respectively. Pernambuco (58.66) and Rio de Janeiro (50.57) are the leaders, considering that in these States the masculine coefficients were 113.67 and 96,93, respectively.

A new indicator, that depicts one of the most serious problems of public health worldwide, according to the WHO, is the Coefficient of mortality by transportation accidents. Out of the 18.30 dead people for each one hundred thousand inhabitants in 1992, Brazil passed to 22.60 in 1996 and returned to 17.99 in 2001. The large difference between the genders is also present in this indicator: 29.83 for men and 6.49 for women, in 2001. Mid-West (25.7) and South (23.4) are the regions leading the statistics.

Indian population and lands

Another indicator that deserves highlight and that represents the Indian population and lands, which has moved from 294 thousand inhabitants in 1991 to 734 thousand in 2000. Probably more people declare themselves as Indians during the Census 2000, regardless of the effective number of births within this group. Amazonas, Bahia and São Paulo are the States with the largest Indian population. Amazonas, Pará and Mato Grosso are the three States with the largest Indian areas homologated and registered.

The IDS retracts the economy, including the patterns of production and consumption in Brazil

The Gross Domestic Product per capita, the investment Rate, the trade Balance and the Level of indebtedness are among the economic indicators of the IDS 2004. But in the section Patterns of production and consumption there is information on the consumption of energy per capita, energy intensity, participation of renewable sources in the offer of energy, mineral consumption per capita, useful life of the mineral reserves, recycling, selective waste collection and radioactive waste generation and storage.

It was possible to note a decrease in the participation of the renewable sources in the offer of energy, due to the inauguration of various thermoelectric plants, which has historically modified the scenario ruled by the hydroelectric plants.

The data on Mineral consumption per capita (in kilos per inhabitant) reflect the intensity of the economic activity and the complexity of the productive structure of the Country. These data include the consumption of oil and natural gas, construction material, fertilizers, non-ferrous and ferrous minerals, material for the chemical industry, mineral coal, ceramics, and refractories. Except the ceramic and vegetal coal, the consumption of the other minerals has been increasing since 1992, with highlight to the natural gas (from 48 to 119 cubic meters per inhabitant from 92 to 2002).

The data on Recycling retract the proportion of recycled material in the consumption of some industrial raw-materials (aluminum cans, paper, glass, PET packages, and steel cans). Brazil is the world leader in aluminum can recycling (89% in 2003, against 50% in 1993). Paper recycling has increased from 38.8% in 93 to 43.9% in 2002. The indicator Selective waste collection, on the other hand, demonstrates incipient numbers in the Country. Only 2% of the waste produced in the country in collected selectively. Only 6% of the houses are served by selective collection, existent in 8.2% of the Brazilian cities only.

An indicator that demonstrates Brazil’s transparency in the subject nuclear power and Radioactive waste: generation and storage with data supplied by the CNEN [National Commission for Nuclear Power] and Eletrobrás, demonstrated that Brazil does not count on definitive deposits for this type of waste, the stock of which continue increasing.

Access to the Internet and expenditures with Research and Development also have their indicators

The institutional section of the IDS brings information on the ratification of global agreements, existence of municipal committees, expenditures with research and development, public expense with protection to the environment, access to telephony services and to the Internet.

The indicator on Expenditures with research and development demonstrates the decrease in the volume of resources of the federal government applied in Research and Development from 1996 (R$ 3.6 billion) to 2002 (R$ 2.9 billion). There are data on the percentage of the GDP represented by the investments for 1999 and, incomplete data for 2000 and 2001. Are also listed the sectors and investors (federal and state governments and companies).

The participation of the Public expenses with protection to the environment in the total of the public expenses in 2000, on its turn, was only 0.5%, with 0.42% for the federal government, 0.82% for the state government, and 0.57% for municipal governments (capitals and metropolitan regions in 96 and 97, and a group of 256 municipalities in 98). The IDS 2004 brings tables for each Unit of the Federation, separating the expenses of the state and municipal governments.

Finally, additionally to the fact of informing the number of domiciles with access to the Internet, with its variation from 1999 to 2002, the publication brings the number of schools with this facility, disaggregating the elementary school and high school.