DF Brazil
Political parties filed two Direct Actions of Unconstitutionality by Omission (ADIO 59 and ADIO 60, for their acronym in Portuguese) before the Supreme Federal Court (STF) to have the omission of the Union in relation to the paralysis of the Amazon Fund recognized.
According to the political parties' arguments, the paralysis would be characterized by an unconstitutional administrative omission, and would be evident in the following aspects: (i) the extinction, by decree, of the Fund's Technical Committee; (ii) the extinction, by decree, of the Fund's Guidance Committee; and (iii) the withholding of R$ 1.5 trillion (approximately US$ 300 million), without contracting new projects or carrying out any environmental protection measures in the Amazon.
In the lawsuit, the parties ask the government to use the frozen $1.5 billion, regularize transfers, evaluate pending projects, and refrain from taking further harmful measures; because the Minister of Environment, Ricardo Salles, paralyzed the fund's activities after the countries did not accept changes in resource allocation and governance.
On November 3, 2022, the Court decided the action as partially admissible.
The action contains specific arguments on climate change; for example, it points out that the Amazon Fund is a pioneering initiative of the financing actions for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), a mechanism developed under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to financially reward developing countries for their results in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, considering the role of conserving carbon stocks.
In this sense, given that the Fund's function is based on promoting projects that prevent or combat deforestation and those that promote the conservation and sustainable integration of natural resources in the Legal Amazon area, Support for the protection of indigenous land rights is one of the most efficient mechanisms to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through forest conservation.
- Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB),
- Socialism and Liberty Party (P-SOL)
- Workers' Party (PT)
- Sustainability Network
- The Union (Federal Government).
Brazil possesses 60% of the Amazon rainforest and approximately 20% of all terrestrial species on the planet; at the same time, it has become the country with the greatest loss of primary and native tropical forests in the world. It has 896,917 Indigenous people distributed among 305 ethnic groups, of whom some 502,783 live in rural areas and 315,180 in urban areas. Similarly, Brazil is considered the country with the largest known concentration of Indigenous peoples living in isolation. These characteristics make it highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. To prevent the loss of its rich biodiversity and guarantee the survival of Indigenous peoples, it is essential to halt deforestation and degradation in the Amazon.
The Amazon Fund is the main financing mechanism for conservation projects in the Amazon. It was created in 2008 as an essential tool for reducing deforestation and is managed by the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES). Funding is based on voluntary donations, which are conditional on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, it is necessary to demonstrate a reduction in deforestation year after year for donors to continue investing.
Standards
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
- Paris Agreement
- Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil
- National Climate Change Policy (PNMC), Law No. 12187/2009
- National Environmental Policy (PNMA), Law No. 6938/1981