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Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) v. Brazil and others (Sea advance and coastal erosion) - ruling

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On January 29, 2014 the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (Ministério Público Federal – MPF) filed a Public Civil Action (environmental class-action) with a request for an injunction against the Federal Union, IBAMA (Federal Environmental Agency), State of Sergipe, Sergipe’s Environmental Agency and others, including private individuals alleging environmental damage. The damage is alleged to have occurred due to the irregular occupation of an area of Boa Viagem Beach in Sergipe. The area in question is a sandbank environment, with dunes and mangrove vegetation, constituting a permanent preservation area, and has bars and summer houses built irregularly. The plaintiff affirms that there has been invasion of federal public property, illegal landfilling and sewage disposal directly into the ground, in drains, contaminating the water table and impairing public access to the beach. All the constructions were irregular and made in a way that violated several protective norms.

There was a ruling of the injunction that ordered the interdiction of the bars on the site, considering, as a supervening fact, the advance of tides on the locality, which eroded the foundations of the establishments and put them at risk of collapse. 

Two defendants who had their bars interdicted filed several appeals in succession until one of those appeals was analyzed by the Superior Court of Justice (STJ). The admission of the last appeal (Interlocutory Appeal in the Special Appeal) was dismissed. The ruling highlighted the undeniable consequences of climate change that already affect everyone, but especially the poorest. The impacts on this vulnerable group in particular were emphasized. Within this scenario, it was highlighted that the attention of judges is necessary to ensure the values of the Environmental Rule of Law. The ruling stated that, in this case, within the scenario of climate change, the advance of the tides and the 
consequent destruction of bars and restaurants located on their shores is foreseeable.

Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) v. Brazil and others (Sea advance and coastal erosion)

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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

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.