The Brazilian Environment on Trial

The Brazilian Environment on Trial

Since the beginning of the Bolsonaro administration, Brazil has experienced numerous environmental disasters, including the rupture of a tailings dam in Minas Gerais, wide-reaching oil spills on the northeastern coast, and a sharp increase in wildfires throughout the Amazon rainforest and the Pantanal wetlands. 

International perceptions of Brazil’s environmental performance have also been dramatically downgraded. The country lost its traditional place as one of the most ambitious environmental players among developing countries and is now considered unpredictable, at best. Although the country carried ambitious promises to last November’s UN climate summit, including cutting emissions by 50%, ending illegal deforestation by 2030, and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, experts noted that much of what the Brazilian delegation promised was simply the repackaging of previous projects. The Bolsonaro administration is simply not considered a credible actor by the international community

As the country with the largest share of the Amazon rainforest and the most significant biodiversity in the world, Brazil’s ecological policies have global implications. But in an article published last year by the Bulletin of Latin American Research, authors Mairon Bastos Lima and Karen da Costa point out that Brazil’s environmental misgovernance is not solely a symptom of bad regulation; under Bolsonaro transgressions have been intentional. 

In 2019, when a rise in wildfires throughout the country led to numerous protests and the targeting of Brazilian embassies across the globe, foreign investment in the environmental sector decreased sharply. Since then, Bolsonaro’s environmental policy has largely consisted of dismantling federal legislation and environmental agencies, accompanied by increased mining and oil extraction in indigenous territories and publicly protected lands. The government has sought to spur investments in the country’s agricultural industry; the former minister of the environment, Ricardo Salles, reportedly urged the government to use the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunistic diversion to downgrade environmental rules without media attention or public scrutiny.

On March 31, Brazilian Federal Supreme Court Justice Cármen Lúcia acknowledged the systematic violation of several constitutional principles by the Bolsonaro administration. The statement resulted from an unprecedented hearing of seven environmental cases, labelled the “green package” by local media.  In her initial statement, Justice Lúcia argued that the state cannot simply ignore its obligation to preserve the environment. According to Justice Lúcia, the weakening of the environmental regulatory framework is unconstitutional. Among other problems mentioned by Lúcia, Brazil has seen a decline in environmental inspections, a lack of compliance with budget expenditure requirements, and failure to develop and implement a plan to combat deforestation. While the STF’s judgment is still underway, this initial statement suggests that the court will likely look unfavorably on the administration’s environmental governance.

The seven environmental cases up for judgment in the STF vary in theme from the use of the Brazilian Army to combat environmental crime to improper management of the Amazon Fund and a breach of a 2018 air quality law. According to a recent report  by the Tanaloa Institute, a Brazilian think tank focused on the environment, if the court rules favorably in all seven cases, the “green package” might have a positive effect on reinforcing environmental institutions and the implementation of public policies focused on climate and environmental issues.  As the trial continues in the following weeks, environmental advocates worldwide are focusing their attention on the Supreme Court, which once again sits at the epicenter of Brasília’s policy debate, with broad repercussions for the future of the global environment.

Image: Antonio Cruz/Agência Brasil