When the transition deepens the crisis: an analysis of the contradictions of the sugar-energy sector in the Pontal do Paranapanema region (São Paulo, Brazil)

Abstract

The socio-political conception of the Anthropocene reveals its roots in the capitalist logic of accumulation, characterized by the perpetuation of inequalities, the concentration of wealth, and the systematic exploitation of
nature and labor. Global climate policy, guided by international agreements and market-based nature solutions, has largely contributed to the consolidation of this hegemonic model. Although framed by narratives of
mitigation and adaptation, such policies often intensify the very processes that lead to climate collapse. This article takes the so-called energy transition as its object of analysis, with a particular focus on the production of agrofuels derived from sugarcane. The region of Pontal do Paranapanema, located in the state of São Paulo
(Brazil) and historically marked by struggles for land and the expansion of sugarcane monoculture, exemplifies
this conflictual dynamic, where the sugar-energy agribusiness appropriates territories under the rhetoric of
sustainability while simultaneously generating negative impacts and processes of deterritorialization. Based on
this reality, the article offers a critical reflection on the contradictory relationship between climate crisis,
agribusiness expansion, and the institutionalization of environmental agendas. Drawing on both qualitative and
quantitative methodologies, the analysis demonstrates that, far from promoting climate adaptation or mitigation,
energy transition processes based on agrofuels contribute to the reproduction of the structural causes of collapse.
It is argued, therefore, that the ongoing crisis is not one of nature, but of the capitalist system itself.