Public Defender’s Office of the State of Pará vs. Brazil AGFOR LLC and others (Project 2252 carbon credits and “forest carbon grabbing”)

On July 20, 2023, the Public Defender's Office of the State of Pará (DPE-PA) filed a Public Civil Action (ACP) with a request for injunctive relief against Brazil AGFOR LLC, Michael Edward Greene, Jonas Akila Morioka, Amigos dos Ribeirinhos Assessoria Ambiental EIRELI, Associação dos Ribeirinhos e Moradores, BLB Florestal Preservação no Brasil Ltda. and the Municipality of Portel due to projects that generate illegal carbon credits sold on the voluntary market. This ACP is part of a set of four lawsuits filed by the DPE-PA on the same grounds, but challenging different carbon credit projects. The REDD+ 2252 project, which is the subject of the lawsuit, overlaps the areas of 5 State Agro-Extractivist Settlement Projects (PEAEX). These PEAEX are public lands, whose real right of use is granted to traditional communities located in the municipality of Portel, in the state of Pará, which did not participate in the contested project. Project 2252 generates REDD+ assets (credits generated by avoided deforestation, sustainable management and increased forest carbon stocks), was certified by an international company and has been established since 2016 to generate carbon credits for thirty years. Companies and individuals are sued for being responsible, developers of the project or alleged owners of rural properties where it is located. The DPE-PA alleges irregularities in the property registrations that make up the project, and that the project does not have authorisation from the state of Pará, which characterises the grabbing of public land. In addition, the mayor of Portel issued a Public Utility Decree authorising its operation, which the DPE-PA argues is unconstitutional. It is emphasised that the project was implemented without a prior technical study. The DPE-PA argues that the defendants acted in violation of the right to traditional territory, the right to prior, free and informed consultation of traditional communities, that they did not comply with federal legislation on climate change, payments for environmental services and the concession of public forests and did not benefit the communities directly affected by the project. It argues that the defendants' behaviour entails the duty to compensate for collective moral damage. As an injunction, the plaintiff requests (i) the recognition of the possession of the lands by the traditional communities; (ii) the suspension of Project 2252 and an order that the defendants refrain from entering the PEAEX. On the merits, the plaintiff requests (i) confirmation of the requests for an injunction; (ii) recognition of the right to the traditional territory; (iii) the annulment of Project 2252 and the legal transactions derived from it; (iv) an order to prohibit the defendants from entering the territories; (v) a declaration that the Public Utility Decree issued by the Municipality of Portel is null and void; (vi) an order to pay collective moral damages in the amount of R$ 5,000,000.00 to be paid into the Eastern Amazon Fund in favour of the communities of the extractivist territories of Portel. In October 2023, Brazil Agflor and Michael Greene filed their defenses. They claimed that the Project's lands were not subject to land grabbing, indicating that the community's areas unduly overlapped private properties. The only mention of the climate issue was limited to the potential role of carbon credit projects in reducing deforestation, mitigating the main cause of greenhouse gas emissions in Brazil. Finally, they request (i) that they be excluded from being a party to the lawsuit; (ii) that the merits of the lawsuit be dismissed in their entirety; (iii) that the value of the lawsuit be challenged and; (iv) that an expert examination be carried out on documents relating to the properties discussed in the lawsuit.