Science and decision making: The influence of the experts in the environmental assessment of an oil & gas project on the são paulo coast

Abstract

The role and influence of experts in the political process is still an open debate in the literature. In the case of environmental licensing there are still few studies on the issue. This article analyzes the actions and influence of experts mobilized by various actors in the case of a technological project: the Petrobras Mexilhão Project in the Northern coast of the state of São Paulo and the Paraíba River valley in Brazil. Using the concept of arena, the article will discuss three main factors that conditioned the influence of experts in environmental licensing: i) the limits in decision-making power in environmental assessment arena; ii) the asymmetry of information and expert knowledge; and iii) divergent interpretations between experts. The article argues for the relevance of multi-actor and multilevel approaches to decision-making, provided by arena concept, to understanding the role and influence of experts in environmental policy.