Evidenciação Ambiental: uma análise dos relatórios de sustentabilidade da Usina Hidrelétrica Itaipu com base na Global Reporting Initiative – GRI ## Environmental Disclosure: an analysis of the sustainability reports of the Itaipu Hydroelectric Plant based on the Global Reporting Initiative – GRI

Considerando que o setor de hidrelétricas causa impactos ambientais de larga escala e que a evidenciação ambiental vem se tornando cada vez mais relevante para as organizações, a presente pesquisa teve por objetivo avaliar a qualidade da evidenciação ambiental praticada nos relatórios de sustentabilidade da Usina Hidrelétrica Binacional Itaipu. Quanto à abordagem, este estudo fundamenta-se na pesquisa qualitativa, e quanto ao objeto, este estudo se classifica como uma pesquisa documental. Para atingir o objetivo desta pesquisa, a coleta dos dados foi proporcionada pelos relatórios de sustentabilidade da Usina Hidrelétrica Itaipu do período de 2014 a 2019, a partir da confrontação dos princípios apresentados pela Global Reporting Initiative para a elaboração do relatório com o conteúdo dos relatórios divulgados pela Itaipu. A análise dos relatórios indica que a Itaipu apresentou falhas quanto a aderência do princípio “comparabilidade”, ao omitir informação sobre os valores investidos nos projetos analisados, fazendo com que a leitura do stakeholder ficasse prejudicada, entretanto, é possível identificar que a Itaipu buscou manter-se alinhada com os demais princípios analisados. O presente estudo contribuiu por buscar preencher a lacuna sobre a análise de evidenciação ambiental de uma organização de relevância social como a Itaipu Binacional.ABSTRACTConsidering that the hydroelectric sector causes large-scale environmental impacts, and that environmental disclosure is becoming increasingly relevant for organizations, this research aimed to evaluate the quality of environmental disclosure practiced in the sustainability reports of the Binational Itaipu Hydroelectric Power Plant . As for the approach, this study is based on qualitative research, and as for the object, this study is classified as documentary research. To achieve the objective of this research, data collection was provided by the sustainability reports of the Itaipu Hydroelectric Power Plant from 2014 to 2019, based on the confrontation of the principles presented by the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines with the content of the reports disclosed by Itaipu. The analysis of the reports indicates that Itaipu failed to adhere to the "comparability" principle, by omitting information on the amounts invested in the projects analyzed, causing the stakeholder reading to be impaired, however, it is possible to identify that Itaipu sought to maintain aligned with the other principles analyzed. This study contributed by seeking to fill the gap on the analysis of environmental disclosure in an organization of social relevance such as Itaipu Binational.

A qualitative analysis on implementing the sewer system for an indigenous village in the influence area of Belo Monte Hydroelectric Plant (Brazil)

In this article, the project and implementation of the sewer system in the Paquiçamba Village, as a condition for environmental licensing, was investigated. This village is surrounded by the influence of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Plant (Brazil). This research aimed to characterize the context of ethnodevelopment, thus recognizing the social participation of the indigenous people. The research within a qualitative approach between 2009 and 2018 was based on primary data sources (through structured interviews) and secondary data (electronic files related to the environmental licensing). Data were analysed according to descriptive, focused and selective observations until reaching theoretical saturation. The organization of the data was followed by the organization of the themes, which formed a spiral of interconnected activities based on Creswell's proposal (2014). It was detected that indigenous involvement occurred at some moments in the elaboration of the sewage system project. The maintenance of ancestral habits in the disposal of excreta by a portion of the indigenous people, even with the sewage system in place, makes it essential to broaden the debate on the projects proposed on the environmental licensing processes. The Indigenous can not only have a consultative role, but assume a deliberative participation, being protagonists in conducting their own development.

SUSTENTABILIDADE NA PISCICULTURA EM TANQUES REDE: FATORES ECONÔMICOS, SOCIAIS E AMBIENTAIS NA MICRORREGIÃO DE JALES/SP

O estudo foca a área da Tilapicultura, criação de peixes em tanques-rede em Santa Fé do Sul, que ganhou expressividade no Estado, como a maior produtora em toneladas. A localidade é formada pelos Rios Grande e Paranaíba, que resultam no represamento da Usina Hidrelétrica de Ilha Solteira-SP. A cidade transformou-se em polo dinâmico de produção, destacando-se sua produção estimada (formal e informal) para a safra 2018/2019 de 40.320.000 quilogramas. Todavia, a microrregião de Jales, no âmbito da jurisdição forense de Santa Fé do Sul, também sente as consequências negativas decorrentes da atividade, mormente os impactos ambientais no sistema hídrico, seguidos dos impactos sociais. Nesse cenário, poderiam se alavancar e maximizar os aspectos econômicos produzidos, além de contribuir para evitar esses prejuízos causados ao meio ambiente e social, dentre os quais mencionam-se: o conhecimento, a formação, a orientação de profissionais capacitados, e com este estudo, dentre outros, destacar os principais impactos econômicos, ambientais e sociais causados pela tilapicultura na microrregião de Jales, sobretudo em Santa Fé do Sul, e elencar boas práticas na tilapicultura. A pesquisa bibliográfica realizada nos acervos públicos e privados e na rede virtual disponível será a base do estudo, sintetizada por meio dos raciocínios dedutivo e indutivo que levarão às conclusões. Deste modo, entendeu-se que as proposições iniciais desta tese foram contempladas em sua maior parte. Acredita-se que este estudo contribuirá para o conhecimento da área, o planejamento, a orientação dos produtores de peixes de modo geral. Concluiu-se que o cultivo de tilápias em tanques-rede na microrregião de Jales se deu, até o presente momento, de forma aleatória, por meio de um processo “praticamente casual”, que não se construiu de modo orientado, planejado, técnico, científico; pelo contrário, os produtores em geral, até mesmo os que atualmente são considerados grandes, iniciaram suas produções de forma “leiga”, intuitivamente, instintivamente, sem um mínimo de conhecimento técnico, acadêmico, profissional, real, sólido e seguro sobre o assunto. SUSTAINABILITY IN FISH FARMING IN POND CULTURE: ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS IN THE MICROREGION OF JALES/SP ABSTRACT The study covers the area of the pond culture of tilapia, fish farming in ponds in Santa Fé do Sul, which has gained expressiveness in the State, as the largest producer in tons. The location is formed by the Grande and Paranaíba Rivers, which result from the damming of the Ilha Solteira-SP hydroelectric plant. The city has become a dynamic production center, with an estimated production (formal and informal) for the 2018/2019 harvest of 40,320,000 kilograms. However, the micro-region of Jales, under the jurisdiction of Santa Fé do Sul, also feels the negative consequences resulting from the activity, especially the environmental impacts on the water system, followed by social impacts. In this scenario, the economic aspects produced might be maximized and leveraged, in addition to contributing to avoid these environmental and social damages, among which are included: knowledge, training, and orientation from capable professionals, and with this study, among others, to highlight the main economic, environmental, and social impacts caused by in the microregion of Jales, especially in Santa Fé do Sul, and to list good practices in the pond culture of tilapia. The bibliographical research conducted in public and private collections and in the available virtual network will be the basis of the study, synthesized by means of deductive and inductive reasoning that will lead to the conclusions. Therefore, it was understood that the initial propositions of this thesis were mostly contemplated. It is believed that this study will contribute to the knowledge of the area, planning, and the orientation of fish producers in general. It was concluded that the culture of tilapias in ponds in the micro-region of Jales has happened, up to this very moment, in a random way, through a "practically casual" process, that has not been built in an oriented, planned, technical, scientific way; on the contrary, the producers in general, even the ones that are currently considered as large, started their productions in a " non-technical" way, intuitively, instinctively, without a minimum of technical, academic, professional, real, solid, and safe knowledge on the subject. Keywords: Pond culture of tilapia; Best practices; Impacts.

Availability Projections of Hydroelectric Power Plants through Monte Carlo Simulation

The present work proposes a Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) to obtain availability projections for Hydroelectric Power Plants (HPP), based mainly on regulatory aspects involving the Availability Factor (AFA). The main purpose of the simulation is to generate scenarios to obtain statistics for risk analysis and decision-making in relation to the HPP. The proposed methodology consists of two steps, firstly, the optimization of the maintenance schedule of the hydroelectric plant is carried out, in order to allocate the mandatory maintenance in the simulation horizon. Then, for the MCS, scenarios of forced shutdowns of the Generating Units (GU) will be generated, which directly influence the operation and, consequently, the availability of the HPP. The scenarios will be inserted into an operation optimization model, which considers the impact of forced shutdown samples on the MCS. The proposed modeling was applied using real data from the Santo Antônio HPP, which is one of the largest hydroelectric plants in Brazil.

Ichthyofauna associated with sandy beaches of the rio Machado, tributary of the rio Madeira, northern Brazil

The rio Machado is an large tributary of the rio Madeira, and investigations of the ichthyofauna are urgent given the current high threat of habitat loss on account of a hydroelectric plant under construction. Our inventory quantified 9,544 specimens, representing four orders and 38 species. Our study provides an unprecedented list of fish species from a poorly studied South American basin. This basin, which is considered one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, presents high endemism, few cases of co-existence of phylogenetically related lineages, low species diversity, and few species occurrences with wide distribution.

Paraguay

Paraguay remains the least known, least understood and least researched country in Latin America. A landlocked country situated in the heart of the subcontinent and slightly larger than Japan, 98 percent of its 7.2 million people (as of 2021) live in the eastern region, which occupies only one-third of the total land area. An unusual history sets it apart from the subcontinent, in that an untypical form of colonialism has turned Paraguay into the only genuinely bilingual country in Latin America, where a ‘repressed’ language, Guaraní, is spoken by the majority of the overwhelmingly mestizo population. The springboard for the Spanish conquest of the southern half of the subcontinent, Paraguay later became embroiled in two of the three postindependence wars of Latin America, a fact that is indelibly marked on the country’s psyche to the present day. Defeat in the Triple Alliance War (1865–1870), the bloodiest war in the history of Latin America, in which around 75 percent of the adult male population died, has left deep psychosocial scars. Victory against Bolivia in the Chaco War (1932–1935) ensured control over the enormous but hardly populated western region of the country. Together these two wars gave rise to a militaristic and xenophobic form of “heroic nationalism” that was adroitly embedded by the dictatorship of the Alfredo Stroessner (1954–1989), whose rule was the longest of any head of state in Latin American history. This long period of political repression also saw the construction of the Itaipú hydroelectric plant, still the largest in the world. Although jointly owned with Brazil, Paraguay’s benefits from the enterprise have been extremely meager. The country’s road to democratization since 1989 has been rocky, with three attempted coups (1996, 1999, and 2000); the assassination of a vice-president (1999); and the burning of Congress (2017). Yet despite endemic corruption and extremely weak rule of law, economic change has been dramatic in the new millennium. For though long geographically and culturally isolated, the democratization process has coincided with the rapid introduction of mechanized agriculture, which has catapulted the country into becoming the fourth-largest world exporter of soybean, which now occupies 22 percent of the total land area of eastern Paraguay. Meanwhile, a weak state is striving to deal with the attendant problems that this economic transformation is creating in the form of deforestation and environmental destruction, expulsion of small farmers and Indigenous peoples from their land, the spread of narcotic-related crime, and worsening inequality in income distribution. This article aims to provide an insight into the wide range of fascinating issues that come together in Paraguay’s turbulent history.