Efetividade do licenciamento ambiental em Goiás

Abstract

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the environmental licensing system in the State of Goiás in the period following State Law No. 20.694/2019, confronting the legal-institutional framework with the dynamics of native vegetation suppression in the Cerrado biome. The research, characterized as qualitative-quantitative and descriptive-analytical, was based on a legal-documentary analysis of Goiás environmental legislation, a survey of administrative data from the State Secretariat for Environment and Sustainable Development (SEMAD-GO), and the collection of deforestation data via remote sensing (MapBiomas and PRODES/INPE) for the period 2019-2024. The study revealed a profound dissonance between formal environmental governance and practical results in the territory. A central paradox was identified: a relatively low number of licenses for vegetation suppression were issued by SEMAD-GO, while remote sensing indicators pointed to a high and increasing rate of deforestation in the same period, driven by the expansion of agribusiness. It was concluded that the new normative arrangement in Goiás, although efficient in its purpose of streamlining and accelerating procedures, proves ineffective in its ultimate goal of environmental protection, failing to curb the loss of native vegetation. The pursuit of efficiency appears to have compromised effectiveness, increasing the risk that environmental licenses become a mere formal ritual devoid of practical impact in containing degradation vectors. The study's limitations, such as difficulty in accessing georeferenced licensing data and the exclusion of other degradation factors (e.g., fire), suggest future research that deepens spatial correlation and integrates multiple variables for a more comprehensive understanding of environmental effectiveness.