Dr. Marcus V. Peinado Gomes1, Professor Mario Aquino Alves2
1Cardiff Business School, Cardiff, UK, 2FGV, Sao Paolo, Brazil
Biography:
Mario Aquino Alves is a Full Professor at the Department of Public Administration at FGV EAESP. He has extensive research on civil society, disinformation, and climate change denial. His recent work focuses on infodemic issues and the impact of misinformation on public health, especially vaccination adherence, and on climate action policies, exploring the rise of climate change denial.
With an international academic career, he has been a visiting professor at HEC Montréal, ESSEC Business School Paris, and Cardiff Business School. He is a CNPq Research Productivity 1E Fellow, President of the Board of Directors of the International Society for Third Sector Research, and a member of the Board of the Center for Public Administration and Government Studies (CEAPG) at FGV.
Graduated in Public Administration from FGV and Law from USP, he holds a Master's and Ph.D. in Business Administration from FGV. His research areas include civil society, solidarity economy, corporate social responsibility, and qualitative research methods. In recent years, he has supervised research exploring disinformation and social mobilization to strengthen social capital and promote effective public policies.
Abstract:
This paper examines how organizations navigate the complexities of climate governance, focusing on the role of civil society organizations (CSOs) amidst the challenges of misinformation and uncivil groups. The study highlights the political dynamics and meaning-making processes that drive stability and change within specific contexts. It reveals that interpretations of 'sustainability' are constructed through actors' actions and interactions, influenced by the struggle for hegemony.
Drawing on Critical Realism and Critical Discourse Analysis, this longitudinal case study explores the sustainability trajectory in the Brazilian beef industry over the last thirty-four years (1990-2024). It identifies three distinct contexts of agency: the initial silence on sustainability, the rise of Amazon deforestation as a focal issue due to activism, and the subsequent control over sustainability by the beef industry to build legitimacy. These contexts illustrate how sustainability discourse is shaped by capitalist logic, balancing risk management and profit maximization.
The findings emphasize the role of CSOs in global climate politics, particularly in Global South countries. They expose the discrepancies between existing analytical frameworks from liberal democracies and the realities of developing societies, which often grapple with identity politics, religious revival, and conflicts. Especially in the case of the beef industry, misinformation about ruminant livestock's impact on climate change further complicates these challenges, polarizing public opinion and hindering collective decision-making. Addressing misinformation is crucial to enhancing the capacity for effective climate governance and achieving sustainability goals.