Public Defender’s Office of the State of Pará vs. RMDLT Property Group and others (Project 997 carbon credits and “forest carbon grabbing”)

On July 24, 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 RMDLT Property Group Ltda, Brazil Property Group Compra, Venda e Locação de Imóvel Ltda, Brazil Agfor LLC, Agfor Empreendimentos Ltda, Michael Edward Greene and the municipality of Portel due to a project 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 RMDLT Portel-Pará REDD Project or Rio Mandaquari REDD+ Project (Project 977), which is the object of the lawsuit, overlaps areas of the State Agro-Extractivist Settlement Projects (PEAEX) Deus é Fiel and Joana Peres II - Dorothy Stang. These PEAEXs 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 977 generates REDD+ assets (credits generated by avoided deforestation, sustainable management and increased forest carbon stocks), was certified by an international company and was established in 2009 to generate carbon credits for forty years. Companies and individuals are sued for being responsible, developers of the project or alleged owners of the rural properties where it is located. The DPE-PA alleges irregularities in the property registrations that make up the enterprise, 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 public forest concessions and did not benefit the communities directly affected by the project. The plaintiff argues that the defendants' behaviour entails the duty to compensate for collective moral damage. As an injunction, the plaintiff requests (i) recognition of the possession of the lands by the traditional communities; (ii) suspension of Project 997 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 977 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.