Priorização de barreiras visando o atingimento do Objetivo de Desenvolvimento Sustentável 14 (vida na água) no Brasil: uma abordagem multicritério

Abstract

The oceans constitute a vital ecosystem for most living beings on planet Earth, both aquatic and terrestrial. For human beings, the oceans are a source of various essential resources for daily life, such as tourism and fishing. The importance of the oceans was highlighted by the United Nations through the creation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with one specifically directed towards the oceans, SDG 14 “Life Below Water”. However, there are numerous difficulties in achieving a reasonable level of progress in SDG 14, and these difficulties manifest as multidisciplinary barriers. To overcome these challenges, this work presents a methodology for identifying and prioritizing barriers that hinder progress in SDG 14 in Brazil, along with an action plan based on the methodology's outcomes. The tool is based on fuzzy-DELPHI, Borda Method, Hesitant Fuzzy Sets (HFS), and Step-wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA), and it is applied to prioritize barriers for SDG 14 in Brazil. The barriers were divided into three distinct categories: “Technical and Environmental”, “Policy and Management”, and “Socioeconomic”. The results indicated that the category with the highest importance is “Policy and Management”, with a weight of 43.68%, nearly half of the total weights. The remaining weights were divided between the “Socioeconomic” category (approximately 33.02%) and the “Technical and Environmental” category (around 23.30%). The most prominent barriers are “Flexibilization of the environmental licensing system for impactful activities (C2.1)” with 15.07% of the weights, “Advancement of human occupation in coastal areas (C3.1)” with 11.97% of the weights, and “Absence of a general awareness-based policy (C2.2)” with almost 8.53% of the weights. The first nine barriers in the ranking, which correspond to 70% of the weights and 45% of the total number of barriers, were discussed more profoundly and addressed under two main aspects: 1 - Public policies of command and control for human utilization and its impacts and 2 - Coastal and marine governance. Based on the discussion and analysis of the relationship between the barriers, some proposed solutions to improve SDG 14 in Brazil are: Providing more tools and resources for the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA); Increasing the monitoring of sewage in public networks and individual sewage treatment systems; Enhancing the instrument of the National Environmental Policy (PNMA); Establishing public policies aimed at compliance with regulations; Including more effective policies and tools in public awareness; Reactivating affected groups and commissions; Reviving the Federal Action Plan for the Coastal Zone (PAF-ZC); and Increasing investments in research and committees focused on SDG 14. Overall, this work fulfilled the proposed general objective, which was to develop a methodology based on multicriteria methods for prioritizing barriers and applying it to SDG 14 in Brazil.