Earth Stewardship, Climate Change, and Low Carbon Consciousness: Refl ections from Brazil and South America - Earth Stewardship: Linking Ecology and Ethics in Theory and Practice - page 362

were Iberian colonies - following the tragic reduction of native South Americans by
war, epidemics, and inhuman labor exploitation-, personal relationships have settled
the tune of most ventures that takes place in the region. In South America, economic
sectors have excessive infl uence over governmental decision-making and the politi-
cal system. When hardship hits, instead of investing in productivity and effi ciency,
great companies look for the national government to solve their problems; in
exchange, they fund election campaigns. When the plutocratic links reach such
unbearable levels that corruption scandals become common, the resort to popu-
lism - another common discourse in the region - does not bring any relief. Only
Chile and Uruguay have had signifi cant progress toward effective republicanism; in
the last two decades, these countries have gradually increased the quality of repre-
sentative democracies without falling into the populist trap (Viola and Leis 2008 ).
Another obstacle, and intrinsically linked to low republican values, is short-term
thinking. Long-term planning requires understanding the big picture, not only about
oneself, but also about others - understanding that each individual is part of a com-
munity and that their behaviors are interdependent. When communal ties are loose,
it is diffi cult for long-term thinking to fl ourish. Short-term thinking in climate change
consideration leads to South American failure to adopt the vanguard position that
would be expected from a continent that leads in low carbon assets, energy being the
most evident of them (Vergara et al. 2013 ). South America could lead low carbon
development, taking advantage of the technology that has been created to develop its
great low carbon energy sources. Instead, the continent is increasing its dependency
on fossil fuels, and missing the opportunity to develop local renewable energy indus-
tries that could contribute to increase the region's welfare (Vergara et al. 2013 ).
Still, the picture has been changing in recent years. Following the increase of
extreme weather events in the continent and the negative consequences for the
populations, the consciousness of climate change is raising. Slowly, societal groups
are embracing the cause and trying to push for change: highly educated and cosmo-
politan urban activists, and some cities and towns, are changing their development
paths. 6 Amerindian groups, especially from the Andean region, are creating links
between their pledges and the climate cause, legitimizing their pleas with suppos-
edly climate friendlier ways of living (Ribeiro 2009 ). Nevertheless, most South
American countries' positions in international climate negotiations do not follow
the recent progress in national and subnational arenas. Most of them are very
defensive, insist on historical responsibilities and ecological debt from the North to
the South, and understand international negotiations as a source of fi nancial
resources to protect their forests. Last, but not least, there is no South American
coalition in the climate regime.
6 Bogota, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Curitiba, Lima, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, and Sao Paulo are
members of the C-40, a group of cities established during the Earth Summit in 2012, engaged in
developing initiatives to tackle shared environmental problems. Website: http://www.c40.org/
cities