This is a Popular Action, with a request for an injunction, filed by young activists who are members of the Engajamundo and Fridays for Future Brasil movements, against Ricardo de Aquino Salles (in his capacity as Minister of the Environment), Ernesto Henrique Fraga Araújo (former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs) and the Federal Union. 

Youths claimed that the 2020 submission of its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) was less ambitious than the previous one, presented in 2015, in breach of the Paris Agreement (enacted by Federal Decree 9.073/2017). The 2020 Brazilian NDC would allow the country to reach the year 2030 emitting between 200 million and 400 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) more than proposed in 2015. Youths claimed that the reduction of Brazil's climate ambition through the use of accounting artifice constitutes "climate pedaling" and requested an injunction until the effects of the new NDC were determined and it was updated in accordance with the progressiveness required by the Paris Agreement. Youth asked that: (i) the 2020 NDC be declared null; (ii) the defendants present an NDC with the percentages of reduction of CO2e emissions increased beyond the necessary limit, aiming at the fulfillment of the commitment of progressiveness of the Paris Agreement; and (iii) condemning the defendants to pay damages for their actions. 

A monocratic decision was handed down from the Federal Civil Court of São Paulo that recognized the competence of the Court, since the Paris Agreement was signed and promulgated internally, but rejected the injunction, as it was not possible, summarily, to state that the new NDC did not reflect the greatest possible ambition. After the decision, the defendants filed a contestation, alleging preliminarily the absence of domestic jurisdiction to analyze the matter on the grounds that: (i) acts of sovereignty practiced at the international level are not subject to internal control by the ordinary civil jurisdiction and bind States in terms of foreign relations; (ii) no connecting elements between the subjection of the matter to national jurisdiction were presented; (iii) the Paris Agreement provided for its own dispute settlement mechanism; and (iv) there was no harmful act, as Brazil continues to play a leading role in mitigating the effects of climate change with the greatest possible ambition, in addition to the update being in line with the international best practices.

On November 30, 2023, the Federal Government signed an agreement with the group of young environmentalists who filed the lawsuit to settle the case and bring it to an end. The agreement, in addition to recognizing that Brazil's commitment to the Paris Agreement has been resumed, provides for the country's next climate target to be set transparently and with broad participation from civil society. The agreement was ratified by the court in June 2024.

In September 2024, the case was definitively closed.

Six Youths v. Minister of Environment and Others

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Six Youths v. Minister of Environment and Others - reply

Filed

Brazil

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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

A target to reduce the prevalence of a greenhouse gas over a specific time frame

A commitment to balance GHG emissions with removal by a certain point in time, effectively reducing the net emissions to zero

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

Six Youths v. Minister of Environment and Others - reply

Target

Risk

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Finance