Environmental Justice and Water Resources Governance Practices: Re-Introducing Issues of Equality to the Agenda

Abstract

"The concept of governance has been discussed as a new form of management of natural resources by incorporating the participation of social actors in environmental policymaking. The objective of this study is to examine how the social vulnerability associated to environmental sanitation relates to environmental injustice in Brazil. The paper analyses situations of inequality, based on the systematization of information by literature review. The analysis highlights the importance of good governance, considering the fundamental role of public policies to combat social and environmental inequalities. Thus, it is important to consider: the integration of water policies with the soil, as well as programs, actors and institutions to develop joint activities, the priority of environmental sanitation for the poor, and the establishment of subsidies and finally the differentiation of users in water use charges, acting on the balance between resource preservation and promotion of multiple uses."