STF renews opinion on Bolsonaro government’s environmental policies

The Federal Supreme Court (STF) resumed this Wednesday (6) the review of the actions questioning the environmental protection policies adopted during the government of Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022). Three lawsuits filed in 2020 by the parties PT, PSOL and Rede Sustentabilidade, as well as environmental organizations, are pending.

This afternoon, the ministers heard oral arguments from the parties. The trial will continue tomorrow (7).

The parties are asking the Supreme Court to recognize the “unconstitutional state of affairs” in the environmental sphere and order that federal, state and municipal authorities take measures to protect the country’s environment, especially against illegal burning and illegal logging in the Amazon and Pantanal.

The parties and organizations are also asking for environmental authorities to effectively implement the Plan of Action to Prevent and Combat Deforestation in the Amazon (PPCDAm), in addition to recognizing the Bolsonaro government’s failure to stop deforestation in the region and imposing judicial measures to combat environmental crimes

Judgment

Actions began to be assessed in April 2022, when the rapporteur, Minister Carmen Lucia, voted to recognize the so-called unconstitutional state of affairs on the environment, meaning that the measures taken by Bolsonaro’s government on the matter are unconstitutional and warrant intervention judiciary.

The minister also ordered the federal government to formulate an effective plan within 60 days to combat environmental crimes and reduce illegal deforestation on indigenous lands and conservation units in Legal Amazonia.

Then Minister Andre Mendonza demanded a review of the process, and the trial was suspended.

Supports

Court resumed this afternoon with oral arguments by the parties involved in the proceedings.

Trade union lawyer Leandro Peixoto Medeiros said the current government has taken measures to fight fires and protect the Amazon. Medeiros cited data from the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) to demonstrate that deforestation in the Legal Amazon has fallen by 49% in the first ten months of this year.

According to Medeiros, in the first half of 2023, the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) increased fines and embargoes by 260%. “The numbers are clear, especially in a year marked by the El Niño phenomenon with severe drought in the northern region,” he said.

PT representative, lawyer Miguel Novaes, defended the continuity of action on the legality of Bolsonaro’s environmental policy even after the change of government. “Due to the distance between the filing of the claim and the court, some of the requests have lost their purpose, such as the request for the Minister for the Environment to present budgetary matters involving large costs. The constitutional issue still needs to be discussed,” he added.