On April 24, 2020, the Ministério Público Federal (MPF) requested a preliminary injunction asking the federal government to immediately promote command-and-control measures to prevent deforestation in at least ten areas with the highest incidence of environmental crimes in the Amazon rainforest. The petition calls for the federal government, the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA), the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) and the National Indigenous Foundation (Funai) to work together to contain the action of loggers, miners, land grabbers, among other agents in deforestation hotspots through command-and-control measures.

The petition is grounded in scientific data that highlights the significant increase in deforestation in 2020, along with a reduction of federal inspection activity by the environmental agencies. The petition is grounded on the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon (PPCDAm). The PPCDAm follows Brazil’s target under the Paris Agreement and the National Policy on Climate Change of reducing deforestation in Amazonia by 80% by 2020, based on the 1996-2005 average. 

The MPF calls on the different government bodies to present an enforcement plan and rapid timeline to implement the necessary mechanisms to contain illegal deforestation. The MPF further requests for the adoption of sanitary barriers and the expulsion of land grabbers in Indigenous lands situated in critical areas of deforestation. The petition also requests that the federal government promote coordination, articulation and cooperation, mobilizing the command-and-control forces of different ministries - Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Environment - to support the exercise of social and environmental police powers necessary for the implementation of an emergency plan. The Union must also make viable the personnel and budgetary resources necessary for the implementation of inspection actions.

On May 21, 2020, the judge in the lower court granted the injunction. The injunction was suspended by the appellate federal court.

Ministério Público Federal v. IBAMA

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Ministério Público Federal v. IBAMA - decision

Filed

On April 24, 2020, the Ministério Público Federal (MPF) requested a preliminary injunction asking the federal government to immediately promote command-and-control measures to prevent deforestation in at least ten areas with the highest incidence of environmental crimes in the Amazon rainforest. The petition calls for the federal government, the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA), the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) and the National Indigenous Foundation (Funai) to work together to contain the action of loggers, miners, land grabbers, among other agents in deforestation hotspots through command-and-control measures.

The petition is grounded in scientific data that highlights the significant increase in deforestation in 2020, along with a reduction of federal inspection activity by the environmental agencies. The petition is grounded on the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon (PPCDAm). The PPCDAm follows Brazil’s target under the Paris Agreement and the National Policy on Climate Change of reducing deforestation in Amazonia by 80% by 2020, based on the 1996-2005 average. 

The MPF calls on the different government bodies to present an enforcement plan and rapid timeline to implement the necessary mechanisms to contain illegal deforestation. The MPF further requests for the adoption of sanitary barriers and the expulsion of land grabbers in Indigenous lands situated in critical areas of deforestation. The petition also requests that the federal government promote coordination, articulation and cooperation, mobilizing the command-and-control forces of different ministries - Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Environment - to support the exercise of social and environmental police powers necessary for the implementation of an emergency plan. The Union must also make viable the personnel and budgetary resources necessary for the implementation of inspection actions.

On May 21, 2020, the judge in the lower court granted the injunction. The injunction was suspended by the appellate federal court. 

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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.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

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

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

A ban is a legal action that prevents the sale or supply of a product or service, or that recalls a product from the market. Examples are bans on SF6, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertisement or single-use plastics.

Using laws and the legal system more broadly to protect vulnerable entities

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

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.

Actions or measures to adapt terrestrial systems to climate change.

Actions to reduce emissions in energy generation and supply.

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.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

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

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

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

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

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

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

Any substance with chemical properties that can cause physical harm to people or damage the environment, including ammonia, carbon monoxide, phosphine, chlorine, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, pesticides, dioxins, microplastics, benzene, asbestos, aflatoxins, fluoride, methanol, and toxins from marine sources.

Ministério Público Federal v. IBAMA - decision

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance