AM Brazil
In October 2025, a group of eight organizations—Observatório do Clima, Greenpeace Brasil, WWF-Brasil, Instituto Arayara, APIB, COIAB, CONFREM, and CONAQ—filed a Public Civil Action before the Federal Court in the state of Amazonas against the Brazilian Institute of the Environment (IBAMA), Petrobras, and the Federal Union, seeking the suspension and subsequent annulment of the environmental license granted for exploratory drilling in Block FZA-M-59. The organizations argued that the licensing process was fundamentally flawed, as it failed to include a comprehensive assessment of the environmental, climatic, and sociocultural impacts resulting from the opening of a new oil frontier in the marine Amazon.
In an addendum to the initial complaint, the plaintiffs emphasized that the lawsuit focuses on the annulment of Organic Law 1684/2025 and on preventing IBAMA from issuing new licenses for oil projects in the Foz do Amazonas region and other areas of the Equatorial Margin without properly assessing their environmental viability, taking into account, of course, the parameters and requirements outlined in the initial complaint. It is worth noting that the decision in this licensing process, although granted by the IBAMA Presidency, contradicted a study by the agency's technical department, which indicated that the mining project entailed a "risk of biodiversity loss" in the Amazonian ecosystem.
In its response, Petrobras argued that the Environmental Impact Study conducted for drilling activity in Block FZA-M-59 was sufficient to anticipate the socio-environmental impacts the project could cause, asserting that it could respond adequately in the event of an oil spill. It raised procedural objections that would lead to the dismissal of the lawsuit without a ruling on the merits. Regarding the assessment of climate impacts and risks, it maintained that offshore drilling in Block FZA-M-59 does not generate greenhouse gases, as its sole objective is to verify the presence of oil or gas in the region and, therefore, does not require a climate impact assessment.
Furthermore, the Union defended the legality and regularity of the process for granting the environmental license and Exploitation License No. 1684/2025. It argued that there is no legal obligation to prepare a specific climate impact study or to carry out an Environmental Assessment of Sedimentary Areas (AAAS) as a requirement for granting the license. It also refuted the arguments related to the energy transition, stating that global demand for fossil fuels will remain significant in the coming decades, even in emissions reduction scenarios, and that oil exploitation is not incompatible with the context of the energy transition. It requested that the claims be dismissed.
In its response, IBAMA defended the legality of the actions taken in the process of granting the environmental license, arguing that the Exploitation License No. 1,684/2025 was granted on the basis of technical assessments, environmental studies and prevention and mitigation measures considered appropriate by the granting body.
In its ruling on the application for urgent interim measures, the court denied the suspension of Exploitation License No. 1,684/2025 and drilling activities in Block FZA-M-59. The ruling acknowledged that the applicants raised concerns related to the project's climate impacts, the adequacy of the environmental studies, and the need for prior consultation with traditional peoples and communities, but considered that these issues required a thorough analysis of the merits of the case. The trial judge emphasized that the granting of the license was preceded by a comprehensive technical assessment by IBAMA, including the approval of the Pre-Operational Assessment (POA) and the Individual Emergency Plan (IEP), applying the principle of deference to the institutional capacities of specialized environmental agencies. Given the absence of manifest illegality and the fulfillment of the formal requirements for granting the measure, the court dismissed the application for urgent interim measures.
The litigation remains pending on its merits, but it already represents a groundbreaking precedent for climate litigation in Latin America. Its significance lies in its proposal to transform the traditional approach to environmental impact assessment, requiring environmental authorities not to limit their analysis to the immediate, local impacts of a project, but rather to incorporate the contribution of new fossil fuel extraction to climate change, the assessment of cumulative impacts, and the compatibility of licensing decisions with national and international mitigation commitments—a crucial argument still awaiting the court's decision. In this sense, the case argues that the climate crisis must become a central element of the environmental authorization process for hydrocarbon exploration and extraction projects.
The request seeks to compel IBAMA (the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) to refrain from issuing environmental permits for oil projects without a comprehensive environmental feasibility assessment, both in the Amazon River delta basin and in other basins of the Equatorial Margin. It argues for the need to evaluate the climate impacts and the direct and indirect impacts of the activity, providing complete data on direct and indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from current and contracted oil production in the country, as well as verifying the compatibility between Brazil's climate emissions reduction targets and the climate system's carrying capacity in relation to the project's emissions. It is noted that the FZA-M-59 block is located in an area of notorious environmental sensitivity and vulnerability to oil spills, near mangroves and coastal dunes and the Great Amazonian Reef System, ecosystems whose preservation is fundamental to mitigating the current climate emergency scenario.
- Climate Observatory
- Greenpeace Brazil
- WWF-Brazil
- Arayara Institute
- Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB)
- Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB)
- National Commission for the Strengthening of Extractive Reserves and Coastal and Marine Extractive Communities (CONFREM)
- National Coordination of Articulation of Rural Quilombola Black Communities (CONAQ).
- Brazilian Institute of the Environment (IBAMA);
- Petrobras
- The Federal Union
The Foz do Amazonas (Amazon Delta) is the marine region located off the mouth of the Amazon River, on the northern coast of Brazil, primarily off the coast of the state of Amapá and part of Pará. It is a transition zone between the freshwater of the world's largest river and the Atlantic Ocean, characterized by extraordinary biological productivity and complex oceanographic dynamics influenced by the discharge of sediments and nutrients from the Amazon. This territory harbors ecosystems of great ecological importance, including mangroves, estuaries, Amazonian reefs, seagrass meadows, and essential habitats for numerous species of fish, sea turtles, marine mammals, and migratory birds. It is also an area upon which Indigenous communities, Quilombola peoples, artisanal fishers, and extractive populations depend economically and culturally, relying on marine and coastal resources for their livelihoods.
The Brazilian Equatorial Margin is a vast offshore oil province stretching approximately 2,200 kilometers along the country's northern coast, from the state of Amapá to Rio Grande do Norte. It comprises five major sedimentary basins: Foz do Amazonas, Pará-Maranhão, Barreirinhas, Ceará, and Potiguar. In recent years, the Brazilian government and Petrobras have identified it as the primary frontier for expanding hydrocarbon exploration, due to its geological potential and its similarities to other Atlantic regions where significant oil deposits have been discovered, such as the coasts of Guyana and Suriname. Within this context, Block FZA-M-59, located in the Foz do Amazonas Basin, has become one of the flagship projects of this oil expansion strategy.
From an environmental and climatic perspective, the region holds strategic importance that transcends national borders. The interaction between the Atlantic Ocean and the Amazon River plume fosters fundamental ecological processes for the conservation of marine biodiversity and the regulation of biogeochemical cycles. Several studies have identified the existence of the Amazon Reef System in the area, a network of reefs and benthic communities that remained unknown for decades and whose extent and ecological functioning are still the subject of scientific research. Furthermore, the region contributes to carbon capture and storage through its mangroves and other coastal ecosystems, considered among the planet's main blue carbon reservoirs. For these reasons, the opening of a new oil frontier has raised concerns related to the risks of spills, the impact on highly sensitive ecosystems, the disruption of traditional livelihoods, and the increase in greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the expansion of fossil fuel production.
International agreements/treaties
- Paris Agreement (Federal Decree 9.073/2017)
- ILO Convention No. 169 (Federal Decrees 5.051/2004 and 10.088/2019)
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (Federal Decree 2.652/1998)
- OC 32/25 of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
National Laws
- Article 170 of the Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil of 1988 (CRFB/88)
- Article 225 of the Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil of 1988 (CRFB/88)
- Article 231 of the Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil of 1988 (CRFB/88)
- Article 5 of the Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil of 1988 (CRFB/88)
- Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil of 1988 (CRFB/88)
- IBAMA Regulatory Instruction 12/2010
- National Energy Policy (Federal Law 9.478/1997)
- State Policy on Climate Change (PEMC)
- National Policy for the Sustainable Development of Traditional Peoples and Communities (Federal Decree 6.040/2007)
- National Policy for Environmental and Territorial Management of Indigenous Lands (PNGATI) (Federal Decree 7.747/2012)
- National Environmental Policy - PNMA (Federal Law 6.938/1981)
- National Climate Change Policy - PNMC (Federal Law 12.187/2009)