Large-Scale Collective Action to Avoid an Amazon Tipping Point – Key Actors and Interventions

50 Pages Posted: 2 Dec 2020 Last revised: 23 Dec 2020

See all articles by Mairon G. Bastos Lima

Mairon G. Bastos Lima

Chalmers University of Technology

Niklas Harring

University of Gothenburg - Centre for Collective Action (CeCAR)

Sverker C. Jagers

University of Gothenburg - Department of Political Science

Åsa Löfgren

Department of Economics, University of Gothenburg

Martin Persson

Chalmers University of Technology

Martin Sjöstedt

University of Gothenburg

Bengt Brüld

University of Gothenburg - Department of Philosophy, Linguistics & Theory of Science

David Langlet

Uppsala University, Faculty of Law

Will Steffen

Australian National University (ANU)

Francisco Alpizar

Wageningen University and Research (WUR)

Date Written: November 1, 2020

Abstract

The destruction of the Amazon is a major global environmental issue, not only because of greenhouse gas emissions or direct impacts on biodiversity and livelihoods, but also due to the forest’s role as a tipping element of the Earth System. It means that after crossing a biophysical threshold, currently estimated to be when approximately 25% of the Amazon forest cover has been lost (thus only 5% more than the current state), a dieback process will be triggered and transform much of the rainforest into a drier ecosystem, with climatic implications across the globe. There is a large body of literature on the underlying drivers of Amazon deforestation, showing complex interlinkages between natural and social processes. However, insufficient attention has been paid to the behavioral and institutional microfoundations of change. Fundamental issues concerning cooperation, or even coordination, as well as the mechanisms facilitating or hampering such actions, can play a much more central role in attempts to unravel and address Amazon deforestation. We thus present the issue of preventing the Amazon biome from crossing a tipping point as a large-scale collective action problem. Drawing from collective action theory, we apply a novel analytical framework to shed light on the challenges of Amazon conservation, identifying key stressors and facilitators for successful collective action. We examine the problem of Amazon deforestation in relation to six key variables: information, accountability, harmony of interests, horizontal trust, knowledge about consequences, and sense of responsibility. An assessment of the state-of-the-art literature on Amazon land use through our heuristic lens shows that, while growing transparency has made information availability a collective action facilitator, lack of accountability, distrust among actors, and little sense of responsibility for halting deforestation, remain key stressors. We finalize by discussing numerous (third-party) interventions that can help break the gridlock and ignite successful collective action.

Keywords: Amazon, tipping point, deforestation, large-scale collective action, intervention, conservation policy

Suggested Citation

Bastos Lima, Mairon G. and Harring, Niklas and Jagers, Sverker C. and Löfgren, Åsa and Persson, Martin and Sjostedt, Martin and Brüld, Bengt and Langlet, David and Steffen, Will and Alpizar, Francisco, Large-Scale Collective Action to Avoid an Amazon Tipping Point – Key Actors and Interventions (November 1, 2020). CeCAR Working Paper Series No. 9, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3739307 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3739307

Mairon G. Bastos Lima (Contact Author)

Chalmers University of Technology ( email )

Gothenburg
SE-412 96 Goteborg
Sweden

Niklas Harring

University of Gothenburg - Centre for Collective Action (CeCAR) ( email )

Box 100, S-405 30
Gothenburg
Sweden

Sverker C. Jagers

University of Gothenburg - Department of Political Science ( email )

Box 711
Göteborg, S-405 30
Sweden

Åsa Löfgren

Department of Economics, University of Gothenburg ( email )

Box 640
Vasagatan 1, E-building, floor 5 & 6
Göteborg, 40530
Sweden

HOME PAGE: http://economics.gu.se/english/staff/senior_lecturers-lecturers-_researchers/asa_lofgren/?languageId

Martin Persson

Chalmers University of Technology ( email )

Gothenburg
SE-412 96 Goteborg
Sweden

Martin Sjostedt

University of Gothenburg ( email )

Box 711
Göteborg, S-405 30
Sweden

Bengt Brüld

University of Gothenburg - Department of Philosophy, Linguistics & Theory of Science ( email )

Box 200
Gothenburg, 40530
Sweden

David Langlet

Uppsala University, Faculty of Law ( email )

Faculty of Law Box 512
Uppsala, SE-751 20
Sweden

HOME PAGE: http://https://katalog.uu.se/profile/?id=N21-960

Will Steffen

Australian National University (ANU) ( email )

Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601
Australia

Francisco Alpizar

Wageningen University and Research (WUR) ( email )

Netherlands

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