DF Brazil
The lawsuit is a Public Civil Action filed by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF), the SOS Mata Atlântica Foundation, and ABRAMPA against the Federal Union, seeking to have Decree 4.410/2020, issued by the Ministry of the Environment, declared null and void. According to the plaintiffs, this Decree modified the understanding established in Decree MMA 64.773/2017, altering the relationship between Law 11.428/2006 (on the protection of native vegetation in the Atlantic Forest Biome)—special legislation providing greater protection—and the Forest Code (Law 12.651/2012), the general legislation. The challenged act instructed federal agencies to apply the Forest Code, allowing for the consolidation of illegal occupations in Permanent Preservation Areas (APP) within the biome, which would imply the retroactive legalization of deforestation prior to 2008.
The authors argued that the Atlantic Forest, a biome constitutionally recognized as national heritage, is fully protected by its special law, which does not permit the consolidation of irregular occupations. They asserted that the improper application of the Forest Code could lead to the mass dismissal of violation orders for deforestation and burning, exacerbating the situation, which constitutes the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Brazil. They also noted that the National Climate Change Policy establishes the state's duty to preserve, conserve, and restore natural biomes. Therefore, they requested the immediate suspension of Decree 4.410/2020 and the reinstatement of Decree 64.773/2017.
Following the initial distribution and declination of jurisdiction, the Federal Union reported the spontaneous revocation of Dispatch 4.410/2020 and maintained that the action had become moot. Furthermore, it indicated that the matter had been brought before the Supreme Federal Court through an abstract review action, which would provide a binding decision.
The First Federal Civil Court of the Federal District concluded that the revocation of the challenged regulatory act eliminated the plaintiffs' procedural interest, since the main request—the annulment of the Order—became unnecessary. The ruling also held that the additional requests, such as the reinstatement of the previous order or a general prohibition of similar acts, did not generate a valid legal interest. Consequently, the proceedings were terminated without a decision on the merits due to the supervening loss of the subject matter.
The Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region fully upheld the sentence. With the case now closed, it was definitively dismissed.
In the Public Civil Action, climate arguments play a central role, as the plaintiffs—MPF, SOS Mata Atlântica, and ABRAMPA—maintained that Ministry of Environment Resolution 4.410/2020 generated environmental setbacks incompatible with the Brazilian State's climate obligations. According to the lawsuit, by prioritizing the application of the Forest Code to allow the consolidation of illegal occupations in Permanent Preservation Areas (APP) within the Atlantic Forest biome, the Resolution indirectly favored the legalization of past deforestation, which would produce significant climate impacts.
The authors highlighted that, in Brazil, the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions (GEE) comes precisely from deforestation and changes in land use, according to official climate inventories. Therefore, any regulation that encourages, tolerates or facilitates the occupation of illegally cleared areas directly contributes to the increase in national emissions, counteracting the mitigation efforts necessary to confront the climate crisis.
They argued that the Atlantic Forest Law (Law 11.428/2006) is a special legal framework created precisely to protect a highly fragmented and reduced biome, whose preservation is crucial not only for biodiversity, but also for ecosystem services essential to climate balance, such as water regulation, thermal stabilization and carbon storage.
They also argued that the Atlantic Forest Law (Law 11.428/2006) is a special legal framework created precisely to protect a highly fragmented and reduced biome, whose preservation is crucial not only for biodiversity but also for essential ecosystem services for climate balance, such as water regulation, thermal stabilization, and carbon storage. Replacing this special regime with more permissive provisions of the Forest Code would represent a prohibited environmental setback, with direct repercussions for compliance with the National Climate Change Policy (PNMC).
The lawsuit emphasized that the National Climate Change Policy (PNMC) establishes clear duties for the preservation, conservation, and restoration of natural biomes as a mitigation strategy. By violating the special protection of the Atlantic Forest, Decree 4.410/2020 would also contravene the international climate commitments assumed by Brazil, including within the framework of the Paris Agreement, which requires coherent national policies to limit the increase in global temperature.
Although the process was terminated without in-depth analysis, the climate arguments remain documented as the basis for the environmental and climate relevance of the controversy, reinforcing that administrative decisions that favor deforestation directly impact the emissions trajectory and the country's adaptive capacity in the face of the global climate emergency.
• Federal Public Ministry
• SOS Pro-Mata Atlántica Foundation
• Brazilian Association of Members of the Public Ministry of the Environment
• Federal Union
• Ministry of the Environment
The action seeks to protect the Atlantic Forest biome, one of Brazil's richest and most threatened ecosystems, constitutionally recognized as a national heritage site. The affected territory includes Permanent Preservation Areas (APP) within the biome, especially those that were illegally cleared and then occupied, which Decree 4.410/2020 intended to allow to be consolidated under the more permissive rules of the Forest Code.
The Atlantic Forest is a biome characterized by its high biodiversity and extreme fragmentation: less than 12% of its original cover remains. It encompasses urban, peri-urban, and rural areas across 17 Brazilian states, harboring a wide variety of human communities, including traditional populations, family farmers, Indigenous communities, quilombola communities, and inhabitants of densely populated urban areas. Millions of people depend directly on the ecosystem services this biome provides, such as climate regulation, water protection, erosion control, provision of drinking water, and slope stability.
The protected areas located in the Atlantic Forest, the central focus of this action, fulfill essential functions for the water security of local and metropolitan communities, especially in regions where springs, riverbanks, and aquifer recharge areas have been degraded by deforestation and irregular occupation. The consolidation of illegal occupations would imply the loss of these fundamental ecological services.
Therefore, the action is aimed at protecting both the biome and the populations that depend on its ecological integrity, ensuring that illegally deforested areas are not legitimized and that the environmental resilience necessary to face the climate crisis and its social effects is preserved.
International agreements/treaties
- Paris Agreement
National laws
- Atlantic Forest Law (Federal Law 11.428/2006)
- Forestry Code (Law 12.651/2012)
- National Climate Change Policy – PNMC (Law 12.187/2009)
- Federal Constitution
- Environmental Crimes Act (Law 9.605/1998)
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