@Article{RajãoNCDMSSRVBNL:2022:RiFaCo,
               author = "Raj{\~a}o, Raoni and Nobre, Antonio Donato and Cunha, Evandro L. 
                         T. P. and Duarte, Tiago Ribeiro and Marcolino, Camilla and Soares 
                         Filho, Britaldo and Spavorek, Gerd and Rodrigues, Ricardo R. and 
                         Valera, Carlos and Bustamante, Mercedes and Nobre, Carlos Afonso 
                         and Lima, Let{\'{\i}}cia Santos de",
          affiliation = "{Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)} and {Instituto 
                         Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE)} and {Universidade Federal 
                         de Minas Gerais (UFMG)} and {Universidade de Bras{\'{\i}}lia 
                         (UnB)} and {Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)} and 
                         {Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)} and {Universidade 
                         Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)} and {Universidade de S{\~a}o 
                         Paulo (USP)} and {Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC)} 
                         and {Universidade de Bras{\'{\i}}lia (UnB)} and {Instituto 
                         Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE)} and {Universidade Federal 
                         de Minas Gerais (UFMG)}",
                title = "The risk of fake controversies for Brazilian environmental 
                         policies",
              journal = "Biological Conservation",
                 year = "2022",
               volume = "266",
                pages = "e109447",
                 note = "{Pr{\^e}mio CAPES Elsevier 2023 - ODS 15: Vida terrestre}",
             keywords = "Brazilian Forest Code, Contrarians, Denialism, Environmental 
                         policy-making in Brazil, Environmental public policy, False 
                         controversies in science.",
             abstract = "Fake controversies have influenced policy making on health and 
                         environmental issues for decades, resulting in major 
                         implementation setbacks worldwide. As a case study, in this paper 
                         we examine fake controversies produced by a small group of active 
                         Brazilian researchers that have seriously impacted environmental 
                         conservation, particularly in issues related to deforestation and 
                         climate change. Based on the literature, we develop a typology of 
                         strategies deployed in fake controversies, which include 
                         manufacturing uncertainty, misusing scientific credentials, and 
                         disregarding scientific literature. Afterwards, we examine the 
                         influence of this group of contrarians at the National Congress. 
                         We then analyze the fake controversies promoted by these 
                         contrarians and argue that, to properly understand them, we need 
                         to consider a strategy so far overlooked in the literature: the 
                         manufacture of pseudo-facts, namely, affirmations at odds with the 
                         established literature but that strives to appear as scientific 
                         facts. Unlike other contexts, in which contrarians have mainly 
                         sought to cast doubt on consensual issues by arguing that there 
                         are still considerable uncertainties surrounding them, in Brazil 
                         pseudo-facts on deforestation have been produced and published 
                         outside the peer-reviewed literature. We conclude the study with 
                         recommendations on how to oppose fake scientific controversies 
                         that threaten environmental conservation in general.",
                  doi = "10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109447",
                  url = "http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109447",
                 issn = "0006-3207",
             language = "en",
           targetfile = "rajao_2022_fake.pdf",
        urlaccessdate = "29 jun. 2024"
}