judgment

PSB et al. v. Brazil (on deforestation and human rights) - judgment

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PSB et al. v. Brazil (on deforestation and human rights) - application

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PSB et al. v. Brazil (on deforestation and human rights) - decision

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PSB et al. v. Brazil (on deforestation and human rights) - points of claim

Filing Year For Action

On November 11, 2020, seven political parties in Brazil (Partido Socialista Brasileiro (PSB) and six others) brought an action against the federal government for violating fundamental constitutional rights by failing to implement the national deforestation policy, and thereby contributing to dangerous climate change. The political parties, organized by a coalition of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), allege that by failing to implement Brazil's Action Plan for Prevention and Control of the Legal Amazon Deforestation (PPCDAm), the federal government violated the fundamental rights of indigenous peoples and present and future generations. 

The suit demands that the federal government and its bodies implement the PPCDAm and suggests the Court set benchmarks for compliance including: (i) meet an 80% deforestation rate reduction relative to the 1996-2005 average by 2021, (ii) enact a temporary moratorium on all deforestation until 2022 if that rate cannot be reached by 2021, and (iii) increase the power of federal authorities to set penalties for illegal deforestation. 

The coalition of NGOs organized the lawsuit and compiled evidence of the government's suspended enforcement of the PPDCAm. According to the NGOs, Brazil saw a 34% increase in the Amazon deforestation rate between 2018 and 2019. Due to procedural requirements for such an action alleging the violation of a fundamental constitutional right, heard directly at the Federal Supreme Court (STF), the NGOs organized seven political parties to bring the case. 

On November 24, 2020, the STF's Minister Carmém Lúcia received the complaint and granted several request from NGOs for admission as amicus curiae. Subsequently, the Attorney General's Office requested the rejection of the claim. On September 20, 2021, the Attorney General argued that an Action for Noncompliance with a Fundamental Precept (ADPF) cannot impose on the Executive Branch how to manage illegal deforestation in the Amazon Forest. In addition, the Attorney General argued that both the Presidency and the Ministry of the Environment are taking the appropriate measures  to preserve the Amazon. As such, the requests are incompatible and must be considered unfounded by the court.

On March 18, 2022, the minister and president of the STF, Luiz Fux, admitted seven environmental cases on the agenda for March 30, 2022 (including two climate cases, this case and <a href="https://climatecasechart.com/non-us-case/psb-et-al-v-brazil/">ADO59</a>). This move by the STF is considered  historical, and was called the "green agenda."

Due to the similarity of the objects of this ADO (54) and ADPF 760, the Rapporteur of both, Minister Carmen Lúcia, decided to judge them together. In a plenary session, the Justice acknowledged and upheld the actions. In her vote, the Justice stated that the right to an ecologically balanced environment is a fundamental right provided for in the Constitution and in international treaties to which Brazil is a party. The Minister emphasized the principle of the prohibition of environmental retrogression and considered that there was a process of normative "termite infestation" taking place silently, through the dismantling of the state's bureaucratic-normative apparatus. This phenomenon is only visible with a general analysis of the existing framework in the country. It recognized the unconstitutional state of affairs regarding the illegal deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. It ordered the resumption of the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon (PPCDAm) by the Federal Union and the competent federal bodies. After the Reporting Justice's vote, Justice André Mendonça asked to see the case file and so the judgment was suspended.

On April 6, 2022, following Supreme Federal Court (STF) minister Cármen Lúcia´s decision that the Federal Government should resume the PPCDAm (Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Amazon Region) within the framework of ADPF 760, Minister André Mendonça requested further information, effectively putting the brakes on the ruling. In addition to determining that the Federal Government should set out a plan to combat deforestation following the guidelines of the PPCDAm (Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Amazon Region) within the next 60 days, the Minister-Rapporteur also took the stance that in the ruling of ADPF 760 and <a href="https://climatecasechart.com/non-us-case/ado-54-amazon-deforestation/">ADO54</a>), the STF should collaborate in strengthening government organs linked to the social-environmental agenda, like Funai (National Indian Foundation), Ibama (Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) and ICMBio (the Chico Mendes Institute of Conservation of Biodiversity), given the shortcomings that exist at the government level. She went on to acknowledge the “situation of unconstitutional aspects regarding illegal deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest and the failure of the Brazilian state concerning the role of protecting an ecologically balanced environment”. The minister further stated that “the right to an ecologically balanced environment is one of the human rights included in agreements that Brazil has committed to”, not only in the Constitution but also in international pacts.

On April 3rd, 2024, ADPF 760 and ADO 54 were partially upheld. The Court did not declare the state of affairs unconstitutional but recognized the existence of structural flaws in the policy of protecting the Legal Amazon. It ordered the Federal Government to make a "significant commitment" to combating illegal deforestation in the biome and determined that it should adopt measures to implement the PPCDAm, strengthen the inspection bodies IBAMA, ICMBio, and Funai and the Federal Government should present transparent information on the actions and results of the measures adopted in compliance with the STF's orders and that the data on the measures adopted by the Executive Branch should be submitted to the CNJ's Observatory on the Environment and Climate Change in the Judicial Branch.

The judgment was published on June 26, 2024, and the case is in the process of compliance with the decision.

PSB et al. v. Brazil (on deforestation and human rights)

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PSB et al. v. Brazil (on deforestation and human rights) - judgment

Target

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance