Economic Assessment of the Impact of the Sugarcane Industry: An Empirical Approach with Two Focuses for San Luis Potosí, México

The sugarcane industry has a high environmental impact. In countries such as Mexico,cultivation and harvesting practices consume and pollute many ecological resources. However,quantifying these impacts is difficult due to their diverse nature and different units of measurement.In this study, an approach with two focuses was taken to assess the environmental costs of thesugarcane industry in San Luis Potosí, México. The first focus is human health costs related to airpollution (black carbon) and the second one is a lifecycle assessment applied to the production phase.In the first case, four scenarios, with different concentrations and populations, were projected. Costsof 516.8 thousand USD were estimated for a scenario in which black carbon concentrations exceededthe WHO reference by one unit for the total population. In the second case, costs of 642 million USDwere estimated for the impairment of seven ecosystem-based services. These estimates may varydue to the source and specificity of the information provided, but nevertheless are considered anappropriate approximation of the cost of environmental damage. It is recommended that first-handinformation be collected and systematized to improve the certainty of the estimates and that changesto sugarcane agrifood systems be considered to reduce environmental costs.

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