Ministério Público Federal v. IBAMA

On April 24, 2020, the Ministério Público Federal (MPF) requested a preliminary injunction asking the federal government to immediately promote command-and-control measures to prevent deforestation in at least ten areas with the highest incidence of environmental crimes in the Amazon rainforest. The petition calls for the federal government, the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA), the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) and the National Indigenous Foundation (Funai) to work together to contain the action of loggers, miners, land grabbers, among other agents in deforestation hotspots through command-and-control measures. The petition is grounded in scientific data that highlights the significant increase in deforestation in 2020, along with a reduction of federal inspection activity by the environmental agencies. The petition is grounded on the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon (PPCDAm). The PPCDAm follows Brazil’s target under the Paris Agreement and the National Policy on Climate Change of reducing deforestation in Amazonia by 80% by 2020, based on the 1996-2005 average. The MPF calls on the different government bodies to present an enforcement plan and rapid timeline to implement the necessary mechanisms to contain illegal deforestation. The MPF further requests for the adoption of sanitary barriers and the expulsion of land grabbers in Indigenous lands situated in critical areas of deforestation. The petition also requests that the federal government promote coordination, articulation and cooperation, mobilizing the command-and-control forces of different ministries - Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Environment - to support the exercise of social and environmental police powers necessary for the implementation of an emergency plan. The Union must also make viable the personnel and budgetary resources necessary for the implementation of inspection actions. On May 21, 2020, the judge in the lower court granted the injunction. The injunction was suspended by the appellate federal court.