AM Brazil
The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF) promoted a Public Civil Action (ACP) lawsuit with a request for urgent protection, against Sebastião da Costa Mariano, for the illegal deforestation of 903.22 hectares of native forest in the municipality of Boca do Acre/AM, within the "Buen Lugar Farmland", a public area of the Union.
The events were identified within the framework of Operation Smoke, which detected extensive deforested areas in 2021 and the continued use of fire between 2021 and September 2024 to maintain pastures for agricultural activity. The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF) alleged that the illegal deforestation was a serious environmental and climate violation, given that the main source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Brazil comes from forest destruction. According to calculations presented in the lawsuit, the alleged deforestation generated 534,613,750,272 tons of CO₂, representing significant intermediate and residual climate damage. Based on the parameters of the Amazon Fund, the MPF set a value of US$5 per ton emitted, resulting in a claim for damages of R$15,236,491.88 solely for the climate component, in addition to other material and collective moral damages, as well as illicit profits.
The lawsuit also requested, in the context of provisional protection, urgent measures such as the removal of the livestock, the suspension of access to public credits, the prohibition of issuing GTAs, and the suspension of the Rural Environmental Cadastre (CAR) of the property.
The MPF primarily demanded the comprehensive restoration of the degraded area and the payment of over R$ 44 million, including all items. However, in the initial phase of the process, the court verified the existence of overlap between this action and a broader one: ACP No. 1043380-54.2024.4.01.3200, filed within the framework of the Amazônia Protege project, which covered a total of 2,041.3 hectares of deforested land and involved other responsible parties.
Both actions share the same facts and the same affected area. Therefore, the judge of the 7th Federal Environmental and Agrarian Court declared the proceedings terminated without a decision on the merits, based on Articles 56, 57, and 485, X of the Code of Civil Procedure, ordering their definitive archiving.
In this lawsuit, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office presented extensive climate arguments to demonstrate that the illegal deforestation committed by the defendant produced significant climate impacts, in addition to local environmental damage. The MPF asserted that deforestation was the main source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Brazil, surpassing even the energy sector, and that the Amazon accounted for a large portion of these emissions due to the removal and burning of biomass.
The Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF) highlighted that the deforestation of 903.22 hectares, followed by the repeated use of fire for pasture maintenance, generated an estimated 534,613 tons of CO₂, a figure that significantly exacerbated climate change. It explained that these emissions caused intermediate and residual climate damage—that is, global effects that persist over time, affecting climate stability, precipitation patterns, the occurrence of extreme events, and the resilience of Amazonian ecosystems.
The lawsuit also emphasized that the Amazon plays a central role as a carbon sink and a global climate regulator. The loss of vegetation cover not only releases vast amounts of carbon but also pushes the region closer to ecological tipping points, with irreversible consequences for Brazil and the world. In this regard, the Public Prosecutor's Office linked the case to the country's international commitments, especially those aimed at reducing deforestation and mitigating climate change, undertaken within the framework of the Paris Agreement.
Based on these arguments, the Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF) stated that the responsible party should compensate for the climate damage resulting from the illegal emissions, using the Amazon Fund methodology as a reference, which assigns an economic value per ton of CO₂ emitted. This calculation aims to internalize the “social cost of carbon” and prevent illicit activities from generating private profit at the expense of collective climate degradation.
The ruling did not analyze the merits of the climate-related arguments because the proceedings were terminated due to procedural continuity. However, the dismissal did not rule out the case's climate relevance, which will now be evaluated in the main action, where the climate-related damages and the defendant's liability will continue to be examined.
- Federal Public Prosecutor's Office
- Natural person ( Sebastião da Costa Mariano)
The territory affected by the investigated events corresponds to an extensive area of 903.22 hectares located in the municipality of Boca do Acre, in the south of the state of Amazonas, within the Land or plot of Cultivation Good Place, federal public area.
It is a transitional region between the dense Amazon rainforest and contact areas with more open vegetation, characterized by high biodiversity and a fundamental role in local and regional climate regulation.
Boca do Acre is located in an area historically vulnerable to the expansion of the agricultural frontier, with a high incidence of deforestation and fires, especially during prolonged periods of drought associated with climate change. The municipality is also part of a region critical for the connectivity of Amazonian ecosystems and for the conservation of essential ecosystem services, such as soil protection, maintenance of the water cycle, and carbon sequestration.
Although the ACP was not specifically designed to protect traditional or indigenous communities located within the affected territory, it directly impacts the environmental conditions of urban and rural populations in Boca do Acre, many of whom depend on the forest for activities such as fishing, gathering, family farming, and the use of natural resources. Furthermore, massive deforestation and illegal fires generate impacts on public health, air quality, and water availability, disproportionately affecting low-income families living in nearby peri-urban and rural areas.
Due to its strategic position in the ecological dynamics of the southern Amazon, the protection of this territory is essential to safeguard the present and future well-being of local communities and the Amazon as a whole.
National laws
- Federal Constitution
- Law 6.938/1981 (National Environmental Policy)
- Law 9.605/1998 (Environmental Crimes)
- Forestry Code (Law 12.651/2012)
- Federal decrees on the use of fire and combating deforestation
- Amazon Fund Regulations
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