As the second-largest ethanol producer in the world, and pioneer in large-scale production of sugarcane ethanol since the mid-1970s, Brazil has been a key player in the development and implementation of the EU’s biofuel sustainability schemes. Partly as a response to what they perceived as unjust treatment of Brazilian ethanol in the EU certification criteria, major actors in the Brazilian ethanol value chain have also introduced their own alternative certification schemes. These include those schemes initiated by producers in the country’s poor Northeast, where the slavery-based economy – dating from the beginning of sugarcane cultivation in the 16th century – still bears its marks on the social fabric in the area (Lehtonen 2012), but where, for the first time in the history, the exclusive dominance of sugarcane is giving way to a more diversified economic structure.
Concentrating on the discussion within Brazil, this paper examines the controversies around the EU and Brazilian biofuel sustainability certification schemes, through four distinct angles: 1) the expected impacts of certification in Brazil (economic, social, environmental impacts); 2) the varying views among stakeholder groups in Brazil on biofuels and certification; 3) the role of certification for the Northeast, in the context of on-going diversification of the region’s economy; and 4) the debates around the mechanisation of sugarcane cultivation and its ambiguous impacts on sustainability and certification.
The research underpinning this analysis builds on French pragmatic sociology, and draws on document analysis, semi-qualitative analysis of media debate with the help of “Prospéro” software (Chateauraynaud 2003), and expert interviews in Brazil. The paper identifies key milestones in the debate, including the international food-fuel controversy that emerged in 2007-2008 and the subsequent Brazilian “counterattack” – which involved vehement debates around the EU sustainability certification criteria; the launching – by the Brazilian government, industry and experts – of “ethanol diplomacy” designed to demonstrate the supremacy of Brazilian ethanol in terms of sustainability; and proposals for alternative certification schemes, such as the “social label” for the Northeast producers (Lehtonen 2014). The paper concludes by examining the potential virtues and shortcomings of certification today and in the near future, in the light of the significant changes that the Brazilian ethanol sector has undergone over the past decade, from the biofuel boom and “ethanol diplomacy” of the mid-2000s, through the international biofuel controversy, to the global financial crisis and the persisting crisis that the Brazilian ethanol sector has been experiencing since 2010.
