Ecocide: A Bibliometric Review and Research Agenda Proposal for Sustainable Public Administration
Description
The notion of ecocide has existed since the 1970s and, as a phenomenon, originates from deliberate anthropogenic activities, as opposed to natural processes that may cause resource depletion. Despite the growing threat, a fragmented approach persists, both in academia and in environmental policies, with deficiencies in transparency mechanisms, accountability, and integrated systems for monitoring environmental crises. This study aims to analyze the evolution of scientific productivity concerning ecocide and map the accumulated knowledge, based on a bibliometric review of the literature using artificial intelligence and, from the results obtained, propose a research agenda focused on the public administration field. The results demonstrated that few studies examine the relationship between ecocide and public administration, evidencing a gap to be explored, regarding the role of the State in environmental protection and in the regulation of activities that may cause irreversible damage to nature. Furthermore, the results reveal an opportunity to develop new research that explores the role of public administration in the prevention and mitigation of ecocide, in line with the 2030 Agenda. For this reason, a research agenda was proposed that addresses four fundamental thematic axes in this area: Administrative Capacity and Environmental Governance; Implementation of Public Policies and Environmental Justice; Accountability Systems and Environmental Responsibility; and Social Innovation and Impact Mitigation.