Climate Governance and Socio-Environmental Public Policiesi in the Municipality of Barreiras, Brazil

Abstract

This article analyzes socio-environmental and climate public policies from an interdisciplinary perspective that articulates the fields of public administration, democratic governance, and environmental justice. The empirical focus is the municipality of Barreiras, located in Brazil’s Cerrado biome, where tensions between economic development, socio-environmental vulnerability, and the protection of traditional communities are particularly evident. The objective is to understand how contemporary paradigms of public management and sustainability are reflected in local policies for climate change adaptation. The research adopts a qualitative and analytical-descriptive approach, based on bibliographical review, documentary analysis, and theoretical-empirical integration. The theoretical framework draws on authors such as Keinert (1994), Frey (2000), Bucci (2019), Boff (2012), Acselrad (2010), and Ostrom (2010), as well as recent studies on climate governance (Fraga, 2024; Fraga e Pinto, 2024; Biermann, Betsill, Gupta, Kanie, Lebel, Liverman, Schroeder e Siebenhüner, 2010). The findings indicate that the effectiveness of socio-environmental policies depends on the articulation between the State and the territory, the valorization of traditional knowledge, and the strengthening of polycentric governance arrangements. It is concluded that local climate governance, when guided by principles of participatory democracy and environmental justice, represents a promising path toward building a fair and sustainable socioecological transition in Brazil’s Cerrado region.