Brazilian Legal Time of Sustainable Development: a Short Term View in Contrast with Agenda 2030

Abstract

Brazil’s commitment with SDG might be mere demagoguery without a suitable regulatory framework to grant the continuity of actions in long cycles of policies. This paper explores the existing contrast between the Brazilian model of planning its policies and the view of AGENDA 2030. The significance of the time of development has emerged with MDG Agenda, but it seems to be even more relevant nowadays. In both Agenda, goals and targets have a 15-years duration. Such guideline was meant to implement goals progressively, avoiding setbacks. This paper is aimed at presenting the time, form and somehow the substance inherent to Brazilian regulatory model of planning public policies as well as underline legal barriers existing therein to achieve sustainable development goals. In doing so, it points out three major legal obstacles: (1) the one-dimensional meaning of sustainability noticeable in such regulation, (2) the weak regulation of Agenda 2030 and (3) the legal model of planning development, usually limited to 4-year cycles. It is argued that the Agenda 2030 will fail in Brazil should a new model of regulation suitable with innovations required to implement ODS in 15-year cycles is not set out.