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Climate Emergency: Commodities on Perspective

In some parts of the world, such as Brazil, the energy transition is affecting food production systems with evident consequences for their societies and Indigenous communities. When examining the life and agriculture of a specific region, it is crucial to consider not only the immediate environment but also the broader spaces—historical, cultural, and global—in which they are situated. Within these interconnected spaces, food is often liable to be reduced to a mere commodity (Vivero-Pol, 2017), particularly when the act of selling overshadows sustenance and societies overlook the social and cultural dimensions that make it unique.

A similar risk emerges in the sphere of the energy transition, which may reproduce patterns of colonialism if it disregards the spaces of knowledge and practice shaped by those most affected. Against this backdrop, some communities are reclaiming their foundations: productive and cultural systems must be transformed, drawing inspiration from Indigenous peoples and traditional communities who have long practiced sustainability—well before the term itself was coined (Dorrico, 2025).

Brazil continues to rip off its natural resources in the name of financial gain. In times of climate emergency, this impacts not only the well-being of its inhabitants, but also the possibility of a decent life. The floods in the Vale do Taquari are an example of this. The Vale do Taquari region in South Brazil

has historically been affected by floods and slope failures due to its susceptible terrain. Since September 2023, these events have increased significantly in both frequency and intensity. During that month, an exceptionally high concentration of rainfall in the Taquari River’s headwaters and tributaries raised the river level rapidly. The force of the floodwaters and subsequent riverbed expansion devastated multiple towns along the Taquari riverside, with settlements such as Roca Sales and Muçum being razed.

While this description refers to the September 2023 episode, it also applies to another event that took place several months afterward and was known as the ‘May 24 floods.’ In that case, the Taquari exceeded the 30-meter high-water mark for the first time in recorded history and reached 33 meters in Lajeado (Metsul, 2024); far above its normal depth of 13 meters. In both cases as well as in other incidents between them such as the November 2023 flood, the areas bordering the Taquari River were severely affected. Because the river flows through important agricultural cultivation areas, floods caused severe damage to the land.

tierra-cultivable-danada-andreia-anschau-

Photo Credit: Andreia Anschau

Moreover, due to the scale of the area covered by cultivation areas that are subjected to intensive use of machinery, pesticides, and chemical fertilizers, the Taquari river suffers erosive processes, increased turbidity, and siltation (FEPAM, 2024). Those conditions impact the species inhabiting the basin. Eckhardt et al. (2007) identified that the agricultural use of riparian forests and hilltops for food production is among the major threats of environmental degradation in the Vale do Taquari.

Agriculture in that valley combines the cultivation of corn and soybeans with pig, poultry and dairy cattle farming. Considering the propensity for erosion of the area, the lack of control over erosion processes, and current land occupation patterns, Eckhardt et al. (2007) classify agricultural activities as the most problematic among various forms of land use in environmentally conflicted areas.

We thus have a territory highly impacted by human occupation: hilltops planted with trees for timber production alongside native areas, flatlands dedicated to soybean and corn cultivation, dairy cattle, poultry and pig farming, vegetable gardens, and a diverse range of other crops. With rising river levels and landslides occurring, there is significant impact on the communities that have developed within this territory and whose way of life is centered on the production of food and commodities.

A farmer in Fazenda Vilanova reported that the dependence of farms in the region on external inputs led to devastating situations during the floods. Although those farms were not directly impacted by the floods or the landslides, the lack of access to companies that buy their livestock and supply feed and other materials caused by the rise of the Taquari meant, for instance, that pig farmers ran out of food to feed their animals. After about a week without food, many of their animals died.

Photo Credit: Andreia Anschau

On May 16, 2024, Jornal Nacional, one of Brazil’s biggest TV newscasts, reported that: ‘Losses caused by floods in Rio Grande do Sul make farmers think about giving up the activity’ (Jornal Nacional, 2024). The story went on to include several testimonies supporting the headline. One interviewed farmer stated: ‘I won’t even be able to pay the bills. I don’t even know what I’m going to do, whether I’m going to stay in the fields or look for a job elsewhere.’

On May 17, 2024, the Taquari City Hall published the following report: ‘After suffering from historic floods, producers begin to estimate losses’ (Prefeitura de Taquari, 2024). The article drew attention to possibilities to make the next harvest financially viable. It highlighted an open letter written by local producers that emphasized the adverse climatic conditions for this way of food production.

That letter outlined the major tragedies impacting regional agriculture in the area before proceeding to request debt forgiveness and access to specific credit lines for ‘recovery of livestock, whether in cattle farming, poultry farming, beekeeping, or sheep farming’ (Carta Aberta: O agro pede socorro, 2024, p. 2). It also underlined the need for financial aid to repair and re-establish rural properties.

Those news reports share a common topic: food production and land occupation are not questioned in any way. Production ceases to be a way of life and instead becomes a mere economic activity.  This food system that prioritizes commodity production over food directly aligns with the governmental directions Brazil has taken: at the state level, the Forest Code was weakened years before the biggest climate disaster ever seen in the region, therefore allowing companies with little or medium environmental impact to operate without prior technical licensing.

This means that the vast majority of projects currently requiring a license to operate would no longer need one. In the state of Minas Gerais alone (the scene of the environmental tragedies in Brumadinho and Mariana), 86% of ongoing tailings dam and mining activity projects would have their environmental licensing facilitated (Instituto Socioambiental, 2021). This also applies to agribusiness and various highly polluting sectors. The city of Roca Sales was deeply affected by the floods. As seen in the following video, between March 20, 2024, and May 7, 2024, the river went from its normal bed to flooding the city. Riparian vegetation is virtually nonexistent afterward, and the river is encroached upon by agricultural fields.

In the dead of night on July 16th, the so-called Devastation Bill was approved, so that measure could soon apply to the entire country depending on President Lula’s sanction (or veto). Agribusiness and mining companies would face fewer restrictions, thus making disasters like those seen in Vale do Taquari, Brumadinho, and Mariana more likely to recur. This quest for mining is, in turn, anchored in the increasingly frantic search for supposed sustainable development. We need to extract lithium, cobalt, nickel, and rare earth minerals for electric cars and wind turbines. Sustainability seems to have no place in the country that will host COP-30.

 

References:

Dorrico, T. (2025). Tempo de retomada. Autêntica.

Eckhardt, R. R., et al. (2007). Análise e diagnóstico ambiental do Vale do Taquari – RS – Brasil, utilizando sensoriamento remoto e técnicas do geoprocessamento. In Anais do 13º Simpósio Brasileiro de Sensoriamento Remoto. Florianópolis, SC, Brasil.

Federação Estadual de Proteção Ambiental. (2024). Qualidade das águas da bacia hidrográfica do rio das Antas e rio Taquari.

Folha de S.Paulo. (2024). Satélites captam avanço das águas em Roca Sales. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOuTH794iLk

 Instituto Socioambiental. (2021). Nota técnica: Licenciamento ambiental – mineração e barragens. https://site-antigo.socioambiental.org/sites/blog.socioambiental.org/files/nsa/arquivos/nota_tecnica-licenciamento_ambiental-isa-mineracao_e_barragens-vf.pdf

 Jornal Nacional. (2024, May 16). Perdas provocadas pelas enchentes no RS fazem com que agricultores pensem em desistir da atividade. G1. https://g1.globo.com/jornal-nacional/noticia/2024/05/16/perdas-provocadas-pelas-enchentes-no-rs-fazem-com-que-agricultores-pensem-em-desistir-da-atividade.ghtml

METSUL Meteorologia. (2024). Laudo meteorológico sobre o evento de chuva extrema e enchentes recordes: Rio Grande do Sul, 2024.

Prefeitura Municipal de Taquari. (2024). Carta aberta: O agro pede socorro [Comunicado oficial].

Prefeitura Municipal de Taquari. (2024, May 28). Após sofrer com enchente histórica, produtores começam a contabilizar prejuízos. https://www.taquari.rs.gov.br/noticia/visualizar/id/3894/?apos-sofrer-com-enchente-historica–produtores-comecam-a-contabilizar-prejuizos.html

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Andréia Anschau is pursuing a PhD in Rural Development at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), where she researches the impacts of climate change on food production in Vale do Taquari, Rio Grande do Sul. She recently concluded a research stay at the HCIAS that was financed by Fundação de amparo à pesquisa do Rio Grande do Sul (FAPERGS).


OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
andreiaanschau (September 10, 2025). Climate Emergency: Commodities on Perspective. HCIAS Blog. Retrieved February 9, 2026 from https://doi.org/10.58079/14mck


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