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IBAMA v. Estate of Celestino Alecio and others (Deforestation and climate damage in Ulianópolis) - complaint

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IBAMA v. Estate of Celestino Alecio and others (Deforestation and climate damage in Ulianópolis) - judgment

statement of reply

IBAMA v. Estate of Celestino Alecio and others (Deforestation and climate damage in Ulianópolis) - statement of reply

Filing Year For Action

On September 20, 2020, the Federal Environment Agency (IBAMA) filed a Public Civil Action (ACP) against the estate of Celestino Alécio Fuchina Facco, Tereza Stefanello Facco, Tiago Stefanello Facco, Lucas Stefanello Facco and Natascha Maria Pedroso Facco, seeking compensation for environmental damage caused by the deforestation of 913.35 hectares of native vegetation in the municipality of Ulianópolis in Pará. IBAMA mentions a series of damages resulting from deforestation, including global warming and climate impacts. As a preliminary injunction, it requested that the economic use of the area be prohibited for the duration of the case, that funding and tax incentives and access to credit lines be suspended, and that the defendants' assets be declared unavailable to guarantee the restoration of the damage. On the merits, it requests the environmental recovery of 913.35.60 hectares of Amazon rainforest and the payment of compensation for the interim and residual damage caused to the environment, as well as moral damage and compensation for the illicit economic profit. 

On July 3, 2022, Observatório do Clima filed its amicus brief to subsidize the decision on the merits regarding the need for express recognition of the climate damage. It argues that international commitments and national legislation guarantee the right to climate stability, an integral part of the fundamental right to an ecologically balanced environment. According to the NGO, the plaintiff's claim for compensation for interim and residual damages includes climate damage, with global warming and climate impacts having been expressly mentioned in the initial petition as damages resulting from deforestation. However, it claimed that, when the case was filed, there was no methodology to quantify the damage, leading IBAMA to request that it be calculated at the liquidation stage. Observatório do Clima then submitted a Technical Note with a methodology for quantifying and pricing the carbon dioxide (CO2) released into the atmosphere due to the deforestation of the area mentioned in the initial petition. Based on the standard price of US$5.00/tCO2e, practiced by the Amazon Fund to raise funds for forest preservation, the climate damage in this case was calculated at R$23,159,018.18. It argued that climate damage resulting from illegal deforestation is an environmental damage that cannot be ignored, especially considering the principle of full reparation of environmental damages.

On March 5, 2024, the court granted the admission of the NGOs Observatório do Clima and Instituto Arayara as amicus curiae.   

In August 2025, a judgment was issued that partially granted the requests. The defendants were ordered to regenerate the deforested area, and the determinations made in the preliminary injunction were upheld. The requests for compensation for collective moral damages, compensatory material damages, and climate damage were denied due to a lack of evidence of current harmful conduct or a direct causal link attributable to the successors. In justifying the denial of these requests, the court acknowledged that the area had been degraded in the past but was undergoing a process of regeneration, as the defendants presented technical reports, images, notarial deeds, and documents from the PRA (Environmental Regularization Program) that corroborated their claims and justified the lack of a judgment ordering payment. Specifically regarding the request for consideration of climate damage caused by degradation, requested by the Climate Observatory in its capacity as amicus curiae, it was argued that, despite being a tool of notable value and importance and whose technical and regulatory advancement would be undeniable, it would not be possible to assess this damage in the present case, since the request was presented in an accessory capacity, without full adversarial proceedings from the parties and without expert technical evidence, which makes it impossible to directly determine a value based on external parameters or generic estimates, such as pricing per ton of CO2 emitted. The judgment granted preliminary injunction ex officio for the immediate prohibition of planting, trading of agricultural products, timber or livestock, including cattle, in the respective area.

IBAMA v. Estate of Celestino Alecio and others (Deforestation and climate damage in Ulianópolis)

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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.

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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.

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

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

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

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

Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

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.

Actions or measures to adapt terrestrial systems to climate change.

Energy derived from biological compounds that are renewable due to their short life cycle within the carbon dioxide cycle.

Financial actors and resources that are primarily directed towards climate change mitigation, adaptation and compensation.

Activities involving the catching, processing, and selling of fish for food, recreation, and industry.

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

A tax advantage is an economic benefit applied to certain accounts or investments that are, by law, tax-reduced, tax-deferred, or tax-free. This can apply to investments in areas such as green energy projects or the agricultural sector, where tax advantages can help manage financial risks.

Activities that provide lodging, food, and entertainment services to guests, including hotels, restaurants, and resorts.

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

Actions and measures to adapt and increase resilience of societies and the economy to climate change.

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

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Climate change can have a range of impacts on technological system. Extreme weather events can cause infrastructure failures like power outages or damage to roads and bridges, as well as the impacts from waste following natural disasters. Human activities also cause technological impacts, such as the risks posed by oil spillage and leaks.

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.

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Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

Conditions that enhance the feasibility of adaptation options. Enabling conditions include finance, technological innovation, strengthening policy instruments, institutional capacity, multi-level governance and changes in human behaviour and lifestyles.

Dedicated pool of financial resources for climate-related projects.

Climate change impacts our society by disrupting the natural, economic and social systems we depend on. Physical hazards and underlying vulnerabilities can lead to increased resource competition for food and water, which can heighten the risk of conflict.

A loan is a policy instrument where funds are provided to a borrower with the expectation of repaying the principal plus interest.

Jobs that contribute to preserving or restoring the environment. We include jobs which require a high amount of green skills or which spend much of their time on green activities, as well as jobs transforming polluting industries.

Zoning and spatial planning are both methods for guiding the distribution of people and activities in a space, and are regulatory restriction.

Codes and standards are regulatory instruments that specify minimum standards to protect health and safety. This ranges from performance standards, which prescribe outcomes while allowing flexibility to achieve compliance, to the more prescriptive approach of technology-specific standards.

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

The processes through which enterprises can identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their actual and potential adverse impacts. Due diligence is the idea that reasonable precautions should be taken to avoid causing harm to people, the environment, or society. It also involves identifying and mitigating risks before they occur.

IBAMA v. Estate of Celestino Alecio and others (Deforestation and climate damage in Ulianópolis) - complaint

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Renewable energy

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance