Brazil’s Infrastructure Project Life Cycles: from Planning to Viability

The policy brief identifies structural flaws in Brazil's infrastructure investment governance, noting a lack of long-term planning and a failure to integrate socio-environmental criteria in the land transport sector. It highlights that the Brazilian National Development Strategy (EFD) is medium-term and lacks specific targets for deforestation and biome sensitivities. To address these gaps, the authors propose a new 'pre-viability' phase for large greenfield infrastructure projects. This phase would use a structuring questionnaire and a socio-environmental complexity analysis to filter out unsustainable projects before they reach the costly viability study stage, thereby reducing investment misallocation and protecting sensitive regions like the Amazon.

• Brazil's current infrastructure planning, specifically within the land transport sector, does not adequately integrate socio-environmental factors when selecting projects.
• The Brazilian National Development Strategy (EFD) is characterized as a medium-term instrument (2020-2031) rather than a long-term one, and it lacks sufficient targets to address critical issues like deforestation.
• Historically, large infrastructure projects have been primary drivers of deforestation in the Amazon, with over 80% of forest conversions occurring along roads.
• The energy sector is more advanced than the land transport sector in socio-environmental planning, having mandated that all National Energy Plan (PNE) studies account for socio-environmental aspects since 2006.
• The National Logistics Plan (PNL) published in 2018 lacks explicit socio-environmental criteria for project inclusion, focusing instead on balancing transport modalities and reducing CO2 emissions.
• The authors propose a new 'pre-viability' phase for large greenfield infrastructure projects to act as a filter, preventing economically or environmentally unsustainable projects from proceeding to the viability analysis stage.
• The proposed pre-viability phase consists of two stages: a structuring questionnaire to identify first-order obstacles and a socio-environmental complexity analysis covering territorial, environmental, and social governance.

APA

Chiavari, J., Antonaccio, L., Barros, A. C., & Frischtak, C. (2020). Brazil’s Infrastructure Project Life Cycles: from Planning to Viability. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/PB-Brazils-infrastructure-project-life-cycles-from-planning-to-viability.pdf

Chicago

Chiavari, Joana, Luiza Antonaccio, Ana Cristina Barros, and Cláudio Frischtak. Brazil’s Infrastructure Project Life Cycles: from Planning to Viability. Climate Policy Initiative, 2020. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/PB-Brazils-infrastructure-project-life-cycles-from-planning-to-viability.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Chiavari |first1=Joana |last2=Antonaccio |first2=Luiza |last3=Barros |first3=Ana Cristina |last4=Frischtak |first4=Cláudio |title=Brazil’s Infrastructure Project Life Cycles: from Planning to Viability |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=November 2020 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/PB-Brazils-infrastructure-project-life-cycles-from-planning-to-viability.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{chiavari2020brazils, author = {Chiavari, Joana and Antonaccio, Luiza and Barros, Ana Cristina and Frischtak, Cláudio}, title = {{Brazil’s Infrastructure Project Life Cycles: from Planning to Viability}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2020}, month = nov, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/PB-Brazils-infrastructure-project-life-cycles-from-planning-to-viability.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }