International Institute for Sustainability

Abstract This work analyzes the relationship between regulatory compliance and maintenance strategy in Brazilian offshore oil and gas (O&G) facilities, exploring how regulatory requirements are distributed and affect decision-making. Initially, a mapping of agencies and institutions was carried out through bibliographic research in the literature and in public repositories, then it was possible to identify which regulatory devices such institutions have with the ability to materialize maintenance requirements to be met by operating companies of such facilities. To relate the mapped institutions and regulatory devices with the assets of offshore O&G facilities, the Equipment Class taxonomy, established in the ISO 14224:2016 standard, was used as a reference, allowing the analysis of the behavior and regulatory intensity in different classes of equipment. To demonstrate and discuss such interactions, two relationship models were developed: (a) Structuring Regulatory Nexus (SRN), for regulatory devices expressly supported by law, and (b) Complementary Regulatory Nexus (CRN), referring to those that are not clearly defined in the legislation, but act in a complementary way. The main results, according to the SRN model, indicate that the classes "Miscellaneous", "Valves", "Pumps", "Fire Fighting Equipment" and "Lifeboats" have the highest relationship intensities, evidencing high regulatory incidence to general assets, but, in particular, to maritime safeguard systems, while other categories are influenced by more niche and less intense standards. Regarding the CRN model, the data indicate that the relationship between regulatory devices and equipment classes is more balanced, with "Miscellaneous" slightly predominant, highlighting the existence of high complexity in the balanced structuring of maintenance plans. This research contributes with an innovative methodology to map the integration between regulatory requirements (structuring and complementary) with maintenance strategies through the introduction of SRN and CRN relationship models, providing greater clarity on the regulatory landscape and its implications. By focusing on the dual challenges of compliance and maintenance management, the study offers insights for decision-makers to know and adapt to the regulatory framework, in an attempt to achieve a balance between adherence to regulations and the search for economically viable maintenance policies, thus positioning themselves as benchmarks in safety, reliability and corporate responsibility in the offshore O&G sector.

ABSTRACT Through a quick review of the literature, this article sought to summarize the events that transformed the history of the native population of Paraíba from 1500 onwards, with the discovery of Brazil. The article proposes to recover relevant aspects to understand this process, highlighting the impacts caused by the intervention of Europeans and the importance of revisiting and valuing the memory of indigenous peoples in the face of the dominant historical narrative. As a result, the study showed that this process not only altered the social and cultural dynamics of these peoples, but also caused a drastic reduction in their presence in regional history, almost leading to the oblivion of their contributions and traditions.

The climate crisis poses profound risks to present and future generations. Nonetheless, the perspectives of children and young people internationally, and more specifically in Brazil, remain underexplored. Based on a multi-discipline literature review on climate anxiety and nature (dis)connectedness, the hypothesis is that the effects and symptoms of increasing (dis)connection with natural environments have short-, medium-, and long-term consequences. Access to natural spaces is a vital response to counteract the negative impacts of climate change. This article discusses findings from a study conducted in urban Brazil with 200 young people aged 12 to 18 years old, with the aim of addressing three research questions from ten questions that comprised the complete survey. The major research questions were as follows: 1. ‘Climate change worries me’: How do you relate to this statement? 2. How does climate change affect you?, and 3. Do you think some young people are more affected by climate change than others? The results show that young people care about and are preoccupied with climate change, especially when they reflect on their futures and the future generations. Although young participants are deeply concerned about climate change and feel its effects them personally in the form of anxiety, fear, and insecurity, they often lack clear pathways for contributing to broader environmental efforts beyond individual actions. These findings highlight an urgent need to foster community-based approaches and enhance education and resources for enlarging and improving youth engagement, especially to rethink the everyday strategies addressing these challenges, and to foster new paradigms of interaction with the natural world based on (re)connection with natural spaces. The correlation between climate anxiety and nature (dis)connection offers an approach that is still little explored, especially concerning children and young people.

Circadian rhythms are a mechanism by which species adapt to environmental variability and fundamental to understanding species behavior. However, we lack data and a standardized framework to accurately assess and compare temporal activity for species during rapid ecological change. Through a global network representing 38 countries, we leveraged 8.9 million mammalian observations to create a library of 14,587 standardized diel activity estimates for 445 species. We found that less than half the species' estimates were in agreement with diel classifications from the reference literature and that species commonly used more than one diel classification. Species diel activity was highly plastic when exposed to anthropogenic change. Furthermore, body size and distributional extent were strongly associated with whether a species is diurnal or nocturnal. Our findings provide essential knowledge of species behavior in an era of rapid global change and suggest the need for a new, quantitative framework that defines diel activity logically and consistently while capturing species plasticity.

Abstract The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework is a worldwide plan to urgently address and reverse biodiversity loss, intending to achieve a harmonious relationship between humanity and nature by 2050. This paper seeks to contribute to operationalising the framework, specifically concerning biodiversity conservation and nature's contributions to people. Using a global analytical approach, we identify optimised areas for conservation, restoration and agriculture, considering food production, urban expansion, population growth, and climate change projections. By formulating scenarios for increasing natural areas enabled by improvements in agricultural productivity and trade, and considering local and global constraints on restoration actions, we analyse potential outcomes for biodiversity and people. Our findings demonstrate that an optimised spatial allocation of land use could substantially mitigate projected negative impacts and even surpass the current situation, leading to significant socio-environmental gains. However, the best global scenarios for nature and people require integrated planning that considers mitigating climate change, reducing human pressure on natural habitats, increasing trade, and changing human behaviour. Aligning efforts to protect and restore nature with broader sustainability goals through coordinated and transformative action is central to implement the Global Biodiversity Framework and delivery of a more sustainable future.

Restoration of native tropical forests is crucial for protecting biodiversity and ecosystem functions, such as carbon stock capacity. However, little is known about the contribution of early stages of forest regeneration to crop productivity through the enhancement of ecosystem services, such as crop pollination and pest control. Using data from 610 municipalities along the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (30 m spatial resolution), we evaluated if young regenerating forests (YRFs) (less than 20 years old) are positively associated with coffee yield and whether such a relationship depends on the amount of preserved forest in the surroundings of the coffee fields. We found that regenerating forest alone was not associated with variations in coffee yields. However, the presence of YRF (within a 500 m buffer) was positively related to higher coffee yields when the amount of preserved forest in a 2 km buffer is above a 20% threshold cover. These results further reinforce that regional coffee yields are influenced by changes in biodiversity-mediated ecosystem services, which are explained by the amount of mature forest in the surrounding of coffee fields. We argue that while regenerating fragments may contribute to increased connectivity between remnants of forest fragments and crop fields in landscapes with a minimum amount of forest (20%), older preserved forests (more than 20 years) are essential for sustaining pollinator and pest enemy’s populations. These results highlight the potential time lag of at least 20 years of regenerating forests’ in contributing to the provision of ecosystem services that affect coffee yields (e.g. pollination and pest control). We emphasize the need to implement public policies that promote ecosystem restoration and ensure the permanence of these new forests over time.