petition

Carbonext Tecnologia em Soluções Ambientais Ltda. v. Amazon Imóveis (Voluntary Carbon Market) - petition

<p>This entry was provided by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Please see the terms of use for citation and licensing of third party data.</p>

Litigation

Sabin

Sabin Litigation

decision

Carbonext Tecnologia em Soluções Ambientais Ltda. v. Amazon Imóveis (Voluntary Carbon Market) - decision

Filing Year For Action

Carbonext is a company dedicated to the preservation of the Amazon, working in the development and implementation of carbon credit projects (REDD+, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation), whose objective is to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and prevent deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.   Individuals and companies can purchase these assets' carbon credits on the voluntary market to offset GHG emissions. Carbonext acquires carbon credits from projects it manages or from assets purchased from other companies and resells them to finance environmental preservation and the development of local communities in the Amazon. The amounts obtained through the purchase and sale of carbon credits fund the environmental preservation and development of local communities in the Amazon Forest. Amazon Imóveis owns 3% of the carbon credits generated by the REDD+ project called “The Envira Amazonia Project – A Tropical Forest Conservation Project in Acre, Brazil.” 

Carbonext and Amazon Imóveis made a contract for the purchase of carbon credits. Amazon Imóveis promised to sell and transfer 331,080 carbon credits. Carbonext paid the price by December 31, 2021. The debtor had to transfer the assets within up to five business days, counted from the signing of the contract on February 26, 2021. In line with market practice, Carbonext requested the transfer of carbon credits as it sold to companies interested in neutralizing GHG emissions. Initially, Amazon Imóveis transferred 5,000 credits to the claimant, referring to the 2017 harvest. In April 2017,  Carbonext asked Amazon Imóveis to transfer 16,990 units of carbon credits, which they denied. Carbonext sent a pre-judicial letter requesting the transfer of credits, which was not complied with.

On July 12, 2021, Carbonext filed a lawsuit to execute the contractual obligation under the Civil Procedure Code (Federal Law 13,105/2015). The plaintiff requires the (i) transfer of 326,080 carbon credits by Amazon Imóveis to Carbonext within five business days and (ii) for the court to set up a daily fine if the transfer of credits is not done.  

On July 13, 2021, the court of first instance issued an official decision to warn the debtor to satisfy the obligation within fifteen days, under penalty of a daily fine. However, Amazon Imóveis did not fulfill the court order as it started judicial proceedings questioning the debt (motion to stay in execution, autonomous action no. 1088560-57.2021.8.26.0100 and interlocutory appeal with a request for preliminary injunction no. 2180421-19.2021.8.26.0000. The plaintiff requested the carbon credits' custodian, Carbonfund.org Foundation, to transfer the credits from Amazon Imóveis to the creditor, which was accepted by the court and complied with by Carbonfound. However, given non-compliance with the decision, Carbonext requested the payment of the amount related to the daily fine. Amazon Imóveis later informed the court that it had fully complied with the contractual obligations. Accordingly, the court extinguished the process on October 7, 2021, precluding the right to appeal for lack of procedural interest.

Amazon Imóveis later filed a motion alleging that (i) the court's sentence extinguishes the process without giving the appellant/executed party an opportunity to express their views regarding information brought by the appellee/executioner in its petitions; (ii) the fine established in the injunction was not confirmed in the sentence, therefore, it is not enforceable; and (iii) the deduction of the price by the appellant/executioner is improper. It requires a new integrative/clarifying pronouncement to remedy the ambiguity and annul the appealed judgment. The motion was not upheld and the company filed an appeal challenging the decision. The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed. 

Amazon Imóveis filed a motion for clarification, which was not accepted and the company filed an interlocutory appeal challenging the decision. The appeal was not upheld.

Carbonext Tecnologia em Soluções Ambientais Ltda. v. Amazon Imóveis (Voluntary Carbon Market)

The Climate Litigation Database

Find climate change litigation data and indicators for {text}.

{text} litigation

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law provides Climate Litigation Database, a comprehensive database of US and Global climate change caselaw

Quickly and easily search through the complete text of thousands of climate change law and policy documents from every country.

Search the Climate Litigation Database

An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

Terrestrial means "of the earth" and relates to the risks to ecological system that includes all living organisms and their interactions within land-based environments, such as forests, grasslands, and deserts.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

Social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced

Tradable permits are market-based tools that grant permission for specific activities, frequently used to regulate emissions. These permits can be issued within a trading system to manage environmental impacts.

People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Actions or measures to adapt terrestrial systems to climate change.

This sector includes firms and individuals offering specialised expertise in fields such as law, accounting, consulting, science and engineering.

Activities of businesses and institutions that provide financial services and products to individuals and organisations.

Activities that relate to the production of goods and services from forests.

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

Activities of government agencies and institutions that provide public services, enforce laws and manage public resources.

Carbonext Tecnologia em Soluções Ambientais Ltda. v. Amazon Imóveis (Voluntary Carbon Market) - petition

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance