Brazil legal actions target environmental and social impacts

Brazil is seeing a surge in legal actions led by the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) regarding environmental and social impacts in the Amazon region.

In Pará, the TRF1 confirmed the jurisdiction of Federal Court to oversee a lawsuit concerning terrestrial pesticide spraying in the Planalto Santareno. The MPF seeks an emergency plan to mitigate socio-environmental damage to indigenous villages, quilombos, and traditional communities. Simultaneously, the MPF has requested the immediate suspension of Petrobras's license for oil drilling in the Equatorial Margin, citing unmitigated impacts on 17 municipalities, including threats to fishing and indigenous territories.

In Mato Grosso, a farmer was sentenced to recover 145 hectares of degraded land within the Marãiwatsédé Indigenous Territory. The ruling follows findings of illegal soybean cultivation on embargoed land and includes orders for environmental recovery and collective moral damages.

Separately, in Alto Taquari, Mato Grosso, authorities have ordered the preventive detention of four individuals accused of participating in a criminal organization. The group is charged with the murder of Carlos Henrique Silva Oliveira, a crime involving torture and a “crime tribunal” conducted via video call.