Interrogating Social Sustainability in the Biofuels Sector in Latin America: Global Standards and Local Experiences in Mexico, Brazil and Colombia

Across the Americas, biofuels production systems are diverse due to geographic
conditions, historical patterns of land tenure, different land use patterns, government
policy frameworks, and relations between the national state and civil society, all of
which shape the role that biofuels plays in individual nations. Although many national
governments throughout the Americas continue to incentivize the growth of the biofuels
industry, one of the key challenges for biofuels sustainability has been concern about
its social impacts and implications. In this article, we discuss some of the key social
tensions, issues and implications of the recent expansion of biofuels production in
Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil. We consider the ability of governments and non-state
actors in multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSI) to address social and environmental
concerns that affect rural livelihoods. We find that each of our cases suggests that
both government and MSIs are falling short in their efforts to integrate and address a
broader range of livelihood impacts.