sustainable development 20 years on from the ... - José Eli da Veiga

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3. Technology and environmental information
Technology <strong>development</strong>s are a significant factor to consider in comparing the environmental information
available now with the situation in the early 1990s. Information and communication technologies (ICTs)
have become key tools not only for providing access to existing information (see section B) but also for
generating and analysing data.
Thanks to advances in satellite technology, vulnerable areas such as the Amazon can now be
monitored over shorter time lapses. Government agencies can provide a timely response to crises and
chart the course of long-term policies more effectively. In Brazil, advances in satellite technology and
ICTs have made possible, principally since <strong>20</strong>03, real-time tracking; the blending of images from
different satellites or from the same satellite taken at different times in order to fill cloud gaps; digital
processing; and the dissemination of digital maps to different government bodies and research institutes.
This information has played a key role in directing policies and projects in different spheres of
government (ECLAC/GTZ/IPEA, <strong>20</strong>11). Nevertheless, much of the region currently has no access to
these technologies.
Software <strong>development</strong> has also permitted the processing, analysis, storage and dissemination of
an unprecedented amount of information, faster. Tools such as geographic information systems (GIS)
help manage and analyse such information for specific parts of the territory. System dynamics software is
used to develop models for assessing inter-relations between different areas of <strong>development</strong> and the direct
and indirect effects of policies or measures, in the short or long term, enhancing <strong>development</strong> planning
exercises. One example is Threshold 21 (T21), developed by the Millennium Institute. 5
Governments and civil society in the region need greater access to existing tools. The vast amount
of data in the hands of private agents represents another challenge. According to a study undertaken by
The Access Initiative (<strong>20</strong>05), an associated challenge is to consolidate schemes and mechanisms for
periodic reporting on the state of the environment and the impact of industrial activities by both private
and public enterprises. In particular, the assessment acknowledges that much remains to be done to ensure
that the industrial sector takes responsibility for reporting on its emissions into the environment.
Initiatives such as the Carbon Disclosure Project, 6 which gathers standardized information on the
environmental performance of cities and large companies, enable civil society actors to compare company
pollution levels and natural-resource intensity and track this performance over time. Each company’s
commitment to the environment can be measured based on reported greenhouse gas emissions, the water
footprint of its products and the strategies implemented to combat climate change. This information is
made available to a very wide audience, ranging from investors, corporations, politicians, public sector
organizations and academics to the general public; each actor can therefore take the appropriate steps to
exert pressure within his, her or its realm of influence and encourage the <strong>development</strong> of cleaner and
more <strong>sustainable</strong> production methods. This experience could be replicated at a country level, on a
voluntary or regulated basis, so that civil society and public sector actors can learn about the
environmental impact of different companies.
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6
See Millennium Institute, “A General Introduction to Threshold 21 Integrated Development Model” [online]
http://www.millennium-institute.org/resources/elibrary/papers/T21brief_general.pdf.
See [online] https://www.cdproject.net/en-US/Pages/HomePage.aspx.