Public policies and sustainable development: the limits imposed by capitalism in the management and preservation of water resources in Brazil

Abstract

Environmental degradation has forced man to rethink his relationship with nature. We live in a world that is finite in natural resources, so that the different appropriation of such resources necessary for the reproduction of life throughout history has created distinct classes and social groups in their relations with the environment, including with regard to transformations in nature and the benefits and losses that arise from this relationship. However, the solutions that predominate and are normally imposed by multilateral agencies and accepted by most governments are strictly technical and are unable to resolve the social contradictions that arise from the man/nature relationship. Through these, the aim is to resolve the environmental issue so that the class structures of current society are not altered and there is an economic appreciation of natural resources with a view to capital accumulation. The issue of scarcity and pollution of the planet's water resources is a typical example of the situation we point out. The lack of access and degradation of fresh water has generated concerns among governments and multilateral agencies regarding the management and control of water resources and, at the same time, the search for the valorization of water in its economic aspects. The present work aims to analyze public water policies in Brazil, considering the socioeconomic aspects that permeate the strategies present in the control of the sector, identifying how the influence of multilateral financial agencies occurred in the formulation and implementation of the National Resource Policy. Water Resources (PNRH) created based on law 9,433/97. In the specific case of this work, we will highlight the influence of the World Bank. From the analysis of documents and the political and economic context of implementation of this legislation, we question the conceptions and the factors that conditioned them.