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Environment Minister defends that Petrobras "cannot continue being an oil company"

Marina Silva walks with the indigenous yanomami leader Davi Kopenawa

Credit: Felipe Werneck/Ministério Do Meio Ambiente

13 Mar 23

Environment Minister defends that Petrobras “cannot continue being an oil company”

Marina Silva, Brazil’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, spoke in an interview about controversial topics such as fossil fuel exploration in the Amazon and the renewal of the operating license for the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant on the Xingu River. Marina declared that, in her personal opinion, Petrobras cannot continue being an oil company, because it needs to make the transition to renewable energies.

She also referred to Belo Monte as a “trauma,” acknowledging the damage done to local populations and the environment, and expressed concern about the current state of the ministry, which has been significantly undersized and undermined during Jair Bolsonaro’s tenure.

 

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Belo Monte proposes a meager R$ 20,000 in reparations to fishermen in the Xingu

Belo Monte under construction in 2004

Credit: Reproduction

23 Nov 22

Belo Monte proposes a meager R$ 20,000 in reparations to fishermen in the Xingu

Norte Energia, the company responsible for operating the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Plant, in the state of Pará, proposed to pay R$ 20 thousand for each fisherman who can no longer work due to lack of fish in the Xingu River since the beginning of operation of the plant, in 2016.

Hundreds of fishermen gathered on Tuesday (22) in the city of Altamira, Pará, to express dissatisfaction with the proposal. They disagree with the number of people contemplated by the reparation, because, according to them, there are at least 4,000 workers affected by the plant, more than double the almost 2,000 fishermen that Norte Energia proposed to attend.

Belo Monte is a project conceived during the military dictatorship (1964-1985) that was on the agenda of several governments until it was made possible by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff. The first turbines began operating in 2016. The construction resulted in serious environmental and social impacts in the Amazon.

 

STF begins voting on the "green package" but trial is suspended after adjournement request

Appointed by Bolsonaro, Mendonça required a postponement


Crédito: Nelson Jr./SCO/STF

6 Apr 22

STF begins voting on the “green package” but trial is suspended after adjournement request

The Federal Supreme Court (STF) has begun the trail of the “green package”, the nickname that was given to the set of seven lawsuits that deal with socio-environmental issues, signed by opposition parties. 

In a historic vote, Cármen Lúcia, rapporteur of six of the seven proposals and, therefore, the first to speak, said that there is an “Unconstitutional State of Things” (ECI) in the country’s environmental policy. The Justice also criticized the execution of the budget for environmental policies and ordered the government to draw up a new plan to fight deforestation in the country.

The ECI is a judicial decision-making technique created by the Colombian Constitutional Court (CCC) in the context of the negligence of the other powers in the face of violations of fundamental rights. The appeal was first evoked by the STF in 2015, in a case about the Brazilian prison system.

However, the Court suspended the trial due to a request for examination by Justice André Mendonça, which occurs when one of the justices needs more time to decide its vote. On the agenda were the Argument of Noncompliance with Fundamental Rights (ADPF) 760, which calls for the federal government to resume the Plan to Prevent and Combat Deforestation of the Amazon, and the Direct Action of Unconstitutionality by Omission (ADO) 54, which points to the omission of Bolsonaro and the former Minister of Environment, Ricardo Salles, regarding the advance of deforestation in the Amazon.

 

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NGOs denounce bill 191, which authorizes mining in indigenous lands, at the United Nations

Civil society organizations ask for the immediate protection of the people of the forests

Photo: Secom/AC

22 Mar 22

NGOs denounce bill 191, which authorizes mining in indigenous lands, at the United Nations

Six Brazilian civil society organizations presented to the international community a denunciation of the risks involved in the bill 191/2020, which authorizes the economic exploitation of indigenous lands.

In the speech read at a meeting at the United Nations by Gustavo Huppes, from the NGO Conectas, also representing the Instituto Socioambiental (ISA), the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), the Maíra Institute, Kowit and the Climate Observatory, the group stated that the proposal “is a direct attack on indigenous peoples and an outright violation of the constitutional right to their territories and the international obligations assumed by Brazil, such as ILO Convention 169.”

Bill 191 had its urgency regime approved by the House of Representatives on March 9 and it might go to a vote without going through the House committees, in the first half of April.

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Lower House approves urgency regime for bill 191, which authorizes mining in indigenous lands

Mineração em terras indígenas é pauta prioritária do governo

Crédito: Alan Santos/PR

10 Mar 22

Lower House approves urgency regime for bill 191, which authorizes mining in indigenous lands

By 279 to 180 votes, the Chamber of Deputies approved the urgency request for the bill 191/2020 (PL 191/2020), which authorizes industrial mining and large enterprises, such as hydroelectric plants and commodities plantations, in Indigenous Lands. With this, the proposal gains priority and should be voted on in the first half of April. 

The request was forwarded by the government leader in the House, congressman Ricardo Barros (PP-PR), and put on the agenda by the president of the House, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), while thousands of people gathered outside in the Protest for Earth [Ato pela Terra], summoned by the singer Caetano Veloso, against bills that affect the Brazilian environmental policy.

For the opposition, this is an unconstitutional bill that seriously violates the rights of the indigenous population. In an interview with Pública, congresswoman Joenia Wapichana (Rede-RR), the only indigenous federal representative, said that the proposal is a summary of Bolsonaro’s agenda. “Everything that he [Bolsonaro] dreamed of in regards to exploring the indigenous lands is in this bill.”

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Bolsonaro uses war in Ukraine as an excuse to force the vote of a bill that allows economic exploitation of indigenous lands

Presidente repete a falácia de que o país precisa explorar potássio na Amazônia

Crédito: Tuane Fernandes/Greenpeace

7 Mar 22

Bolsonaro uses war in Ukraine as an excuse to force the vote of a bill that allows economic exploitation of indigenous lands

President Jair Bolsonaro said that the war between Russia and Ukraine offers “a good opportunity” for the Congress to approve the bill 191/2020, which authorizes mining and other large enterprises on indigenous land. He argued that with the international conflict, Brazil may have difficulty continuing to import fertilizers from Russia and Belarus, which are among the main suppliers and account for about 85% of the fertilizers used in large-scale agriculture.

“Now then, with this international crisis and given the war, Congress has signaled to vote this project in an urgency regime. I hope that it will be approved in the House as early as March and in 2 or 3 years we will be able to say that we are not dependent on potassium imports for our agribusiness,” declared the president, as reported by the website Poder 360. The Minister of Agriculture, Tereza Cristina, denies the risk of shortage.

In an article on the occurrence, the Amazônia Real portal traced the history of PL 191 and the exploitation of potassium in the Amazon region by private initiative.

 

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National Electrical Energy Agency extends deadline for studies for construction of three large hydroelectric dams in the Amazon

Projeto está parado há dez anos devido aos seus riscos socioambientais

Crédito: Marizilda Cruppe/Greenpeace

27 Jan 22

National Electrical Energy Agency extends deadline for studies for construction of three large hydroelectric dams in the Amazon

The National Electrical Energy Agency (Aneel) extended until December 31st, 2023, the deadline for the state-owned company Eletrobras and its subsidiary Eletronorte to conduct technical and economic feasibility studies for three large hydroelectric plants in the Tapajós River Basin (PA), in the Amazon. The first approval for the evaluation was granted by Aneel in 2009, and was extended twice, in 2018 and 2020.

Together, the plants have a potential of 2.2 GW.

Led by Eletrobrás, the “Tapajós Consortium”, created to enable hydroelectric plants in the Amazon region, has undergone several changes in recent years due to the great environmental risk of the projects, located near areas of environmental preservation, including Indigenous Lands.

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Congress lower house approves bill that leaves riverbanks in urban areas unprotected

Those who oppose the measure say that rivers should be under federal jurisdiction

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

8 Dec 21

Congress lower house approves bill that leaves riverbanks in urban areas unprotected

The lower house of Congress approved a bill by Congressman Rogério Peninha Mendonça that transfers to the municipality the responsibility of establishing rules to protect riverbanks in urban areas. The bill now awaits the President’s approval.

Congressman Nilto Tatto (PT-SP), who is against the measure, said that the measure leaves rivers unprotected and stated that “rivers run through multiple cities and states, so they should be of federal responsability.”

 

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Drought: waterway is paralyzed in SP; government hires emergency thermoelectric plants until 2025 for R$ 39 billion

Water crisis may worsen in 2022

Credit: Mídia Ninja

11 Nov 21

Drought: waterway is paralyzed in SP; government hires emergency thermoelectric plants until 2025 for R$ 39 billion

Due to the water shortage in the Paraná hydrographic basin, the Tietê-Paraná waterway, which traverses São Paulo, Paraná, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás, and Minas Gerais states, had its flow compromised, resulting in the firing of more than 400 employees of cargo transportation companies. The remaining water volume was destined to generation of energy.

According to the worker’s union (Sindasp), the situation may get worse in 2022. “It will depend a lot on the level of the river, whether it will rise or not. If there is no prospect of operations returning in January and February, the companies will certainly lay off everyone,” said Luizio Rizzo Rocha, president of the union, to UOL.  In November, the state was again hit by dust storms.

As a response to the energy crisis associated with the drought, the National Agency of Electrical Energy (Anel) contracted thermoelectric plants that will deliver 775.8 MW (megawatts) on average from 2022 to 2025. The emergency power contracted will cost the consumer at least R$ 39 billions reais.

The measure was the target of a public civil action that questions the contracting model and the impacts for the consumer, but Anel was authorized by the courts to go ahead.

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Congress approves bill that enables the privatization of the national electricity company

Eletrobras destatization is being discussed since 1995

Credit: Pablo Valadares/Câmara dos Deputados

22 Jun 21

Congress approves bill that enables the privatization of the national electricity company

The House of Representatives approved the Provisional Measure 1.031/2021, which enables the privatization of Eletrobras, the national electricity company. The bill was amended by the Senate and will now will be forwarded for sanction to the president in the form of a Conversion Bill (PLV 7/2021).

The Bill allows the government to sell its shares of the company, that belongs to the Ministry of Mines and Energy and represents an advance in the anti-State agenda of Economy Minister Paulo Guedes.

Economist Gabriela Chaves said that the privatization can bring a series of problems for consumers, such as the increase in electricity cost in the country. 

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Brazilian Parliament approves bill that destroys environmental licensing regulations in the country

Bill’s approval is considered a historic defeat for indigenous peoples and the environment

Credit: Pablo Valadares/Chamber of Deputies

14 May 21

Brazilian Parliament approves bill that destroys environmental licensing regulations in the country

The Chamber of Deputies concluded its vote on Bill 3729/04, which abolishes environmental licensing rules and establishes a new legal framework. They approved the basic text of the proposal in the early hours of the morning, by 300 votes to 122. The Bill will now go to a vote in the Senate and should be the subject of a public hearing by the Environment Commission, according to the vice-president of the house, Veneziano Vital do Rêgo.

Several organizations have protested against the proposal, dubbed “the worst proposition”. Among the many critical points it carries is the waiver of the need for obtaining a license for at least 13 economic activities that impact the environment, such as mining and hydroelectric plants; the validation of self-declaratory licensing, without prior analysis by the environmental agency, and the exemption of social and environmental responsibility of banks and other institutions that finance the projects, already provided for by law. The critics say that the bill opens the possibilities for new environmental crimes in the likes of the tragedies in Brumadinho and Mariana.

In an interview with CBN, Suely Araújo, senior public policy specialist at the Climate Observatory, classified the proposal as “a setback of four decades, which will also cause serious economic losses to Brazil.”

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Public access to electricity excludes indigenous, quilombolas and settlers in the Amazon, says NGO

Ranking of the most affected states according to IEMA

Credit: IEMA/Reproduction

25 Feb 21

Public access to electricity excludes indigenous, quilombolas and settlers in the Amazon, says NGO

A study conducted by the Institute for Energy and Environment (IEMA) estimates that 212,791 residents of rural settlements, 78,388 indigenous people, 59,106 inhabitants of conservation units (UCs) and 2,555 quilombolas [Afro-brazilian traditional communities] living in the states of the Legal Amazon have no access to public electricity. According to georeferenced methodology developed especially for the survey, in total there are 990,103 excluded, which corresponds to 3.5% of the local population.

The survey, conducted between 2019 and 2020, points out Acre as the state with the highest percentage of people outside public electricity coverage, with 10%, followed by Amazonas (3.9%) and Amapá (3.1%). By total number of people, Pará is at the top of the list, with 409,593 in the dark.

“Access to electricity is fundamental for several reasons: it helps conserve vaccines and medicines; it makes it possible to study at night; it allows for the conservation of cooled food and water pumping; it is fundamental to have access to the internet and telephone; and, in addition, it can provide tools to preserve the local culture” says the IEMA’s technical note.

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Ibama caves in to pressure from Belo Monte dam and goes back to liberating minimum flow to the Xingu River

Order to increase the flow tried to mitigate socio-environmental impacts

Credit: Federal Government/PAC/via O eco

8 Feb 21

Ibama caves in to pressure from Belo Monte dam and goes back to liberating minimum flow to the Xingu River

After a power struggle between shareholders of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Plant, the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) and environmental agency Ibama, Norte Energia, the concessionaire responsible for the project, may once again release a lower volume of water from its reservoir for the stretch known as Volta Grande do Xingu, in Pará state, according to the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo. Under pressure, the regulating agency did not maintain the decision, in force until February 10th, which made the hydroelectric plant provisionally increase the amount of water destined to the Xingu River, aiming at mitigating the environmental impacts on the riverside populations caused by the dam.

The difference between the new flow agreed upon and the one previously demanded by Ibama is big: in March, the plant will make 4,000 cubic meters per second; the authorities were asking for 14,200 m³/s. The reason is the already notorious information that “there are no conditions to maintain life in the river”, as the article says, with the adoption of the measures defended by Norte Energia.

Norte Energia signed an Environmental Commitment Term, in which the company commits to implement 15 new measures of environmental compensation, inspection and support to the local population – an investment of R$ 157.5 million reais over three years. The text also requires the concessionaire to present, until December 31, 2021, complementary studies on the river’s flow and environmental quality.

After the news, the Federal Public Prosecution (MPF) of Pará requested Ibama to provide technical data to support what it qualified as a “sudden change” in the flow of the plant. According to a note from the MPF, the agency wants answers about “the technical choice for adopting mitigation measures instead of adopting measures to prevent impacts, such as those already adopted by Ibama, with the definition of higher average flows”.

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After taking control over the Parliament, Bolsonaro pushes bill to allow mining in indigenous lands

House of Representatives new president, Arthur Lira, already received R$ 200,000 reais from an air company linked to illegal gold diggers

Credit: Facebook/Arthur Lira/Reproduction

3 Feb 21

After taking control over the Parliament, Bolsonaro pushes bill to allow mining in indigenous lands

After gaining political control of the Federal Senate and House of Representatives, with the election of his allies, Rodrigo Pacheco and Arthur Lira, president Jair Bolsonaro presented a list of his most pressing bills. Among them, Bill 191/2020, that authorizes mining inside indigenous territories, Bill 3729, that weakens the regulations for environmental licensing and Bill 2633/2020, known as “Land Grabbing Bill of Law”.

The bill that makes legal mining in indigenous territories removes the power of veto from the communities and authorizes oil and gas prospecting, building hydroelectric power plants and the cultivation of transgenic seeds and cattle herding. The project was repudiated and denounced by the largest indigenous organizations in the country.

Márcio Astrini, executive-secretary of the Climate Observatory, said that Lira rise to power in the House of Representatives will bring “an historical wave of attempts at approving environmental setbacks. In this scenario, hell is the limit”. Lira has received donations from an air flight company linked to illegal gold mining.

A study reveals that, if the Bill is approved and made effective, it could cause the devastation of 160,000 square kilometers in the Amazon rainforest.

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Shareholders want to drop environmental agency decision to increase water flow from Belo Monte dam

Measure caused by environmental and social concerns could hurt corporate profits

Credit: Marcos Corrêa/PR/via Fotos públicas

15 Dec 20

Shareholders want to drop environmental agency decision to increase water flow from Belo Monte dam

Shareholders of the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant are trying to win the support of the federal government to reverse Ibama’s, the environmental control agency decision that would force Norte Energia, the corporation responsible for the plant, to release a greater volume of water to flow from its reservoir into the stretch known as the Volta Grande do Xingu, in Pará State. Valid until the end of 2020, the decision aims to mitigate the environmental impacts on the riverside populations caused by the hydroelectric dam, since the region suffered a historic drought this year. According to Reuters agency, the shareholders – who fear that the measure will be extended to 2021 – have already met with the Ministry of Mines and Energy and there is an expectation that the government will contribute to the negotiations given the participation of the state-owned Eletrobrás in the project.

While the businessmen maintain that the decision could seriously compromise the hydroelectric plant’s power generation, Norte Energia had its request for revocation of the new hydroelectric program denied by the Federal Court, on the grounds that Ibama, responsible for Belo Monte’s environmental licensing, pointed out “worsening environmental conditions in the area” due to the reduced flow, which “leads to the possibility of changing the conditions of the operating license”.

The definitive increase in the flow of water released by the hydroelectric plant is still open. Reuters reported that Ibama will conclude the analysis of complementary studies on the impacts of Belo Monte delivered by Norte Energia.

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Afro-Brazilian quilombola suffer with electrical blackout in Amapá State

Population is affected by water shortage and lack of proper access to medical services

Credit: Conaq/Divulgação

19 Nov 20

Afro-Brazilian quilombola suffer with electrical blackout in Amapá State

Since the beginning of November, the state of Amapá has been experiencing a power blackout that affects 13 of the state’s 16 municipalities, aggravating the vulnerability of the 258 quilombola communities [Afro-brazilian traditional communities] identified in the state, according to a number estimated by the National Coordination of Rural Black Quilombola Communities (Conaq). “If it is already bad in the city, worse in the community. There are people who are hungry, there are people who are sick, there are people who cannot drink water, there are several adverse situations,” the National Coordinator of Conaq, Núbia Cristina, reported to the organization’s website.

The quilombolas have suffered from the cutoff of the water supply — with no energy, no water pumping — and the consequent contamination by the consumption of non-potable water, obtained out of artesian wells and rivers, as residents told the Jornal de Brasília. The storage of food has also been compromised, spoiling meat and other items, and the blackout has made it difficult to buy food from local traders, with prices rising.

The blackout has also aggravated the Covid-19 pandemic among the quilombola population. Without access to ambulances, which do not reach the quilombola territories, the community has mobilized itself to transport contaminated people to health centers, without any kind of protection.

The critical situation experienced in the communities has also killed an important local leadership, Sérgio Clei de Almeida, president of the Quilombos Association of San Francisco de Matapí. The 50 year old leader died on November 18, trying to re-establish the electricity supply to the community of Torrão do Matapí.

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After five years, Federal Justice acknowledges Belo Monte dam negative impacts on indigenous peoples

dam affected way of life and culture of indigenous peoples who live in the Xingu Basin

Credit: Marcos Corrêa/PR/via Fotos Públicas

16 Nov 20

After five years, Federal Justice acknowledges Belo Monte dam negative impacts on indigenous peoples

In a provisional decision that partially meets the claim of the Federal Public Prosecution Office (MPF) made in a lawsuit initiated in 2015, regarding the “ethnocidal action” of the company Norte Energia in the construction of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Plant, the Federal Court in Altamira (PA) recognized that the undertaking caused significant changes “in cultural traits, way of life and land use by indigenous peoples, causing relevant instability in intra- and inter-ethnic relations,” according to a note from the MPF.

The decision, announced on November 13, orders changes in the execution of the Basic Indigenous Environmental Plan of Belo Monte, in addition to determining “that the Union and the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) present within 90 days a schedule for completion of the land regularization processes of the indigenous lands Paquiçamba, of the Juruna Yudjá people, and Cachoeira Seca, of the Arara people”. Another measure will be the creation of an External Monitoring and Evaluation Commission, composed by the MPF, representatives of the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (Coiab) and non-indigenous organizations of civil society that operate in the region of the Xingu medium.

Since October, Altamira, in Pará State, has faced a historic drought in the stretch known as the Volta Grande do Xingu, which is part of the reservoir of the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam. Recently, volunteers have mobilized to rescue the fish affected by the low volume of water, bogged down in puddles and mud in the river beds.

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After Belo Monte dam, Xingu River faces historical drought in Altamira (PA)

The construction of the dam may have worsened the drought

Credit: JL1 – TV Liberal/Reproduction

27 Oct 20

After Belo Monte dam, Xingu River faces historical drought in Altamira (PA)

The stretch of the Xingu River in the city of Altamira, Pará State, which is part of the main reservoir of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Power Plant, is experiencing “one of the greatest droughts in the last five decades”, according to the local website A Voz do Xingu. Residents in the region, known as Volta Grande do Xingu, are facing difficulties in fishing and sailing due to the reduction of water volume and also because the sand banks that formed on the riverbed. “The fish fled, there is no way to fish, it dried up a lot after the construction of this plant there, in Belo Monte”, said fisherman Manoel da Silva. The article also states that even those who moved to farming as an alternative to fishing are not managing to sell their produce, as they are practically isolated without river boat transportation. A report from TV Liberal, affiliated with Globo in Pará, showed the city’s river stretch with stranded vessels and the encounter between the Altamira stream and the Xingu river, with its navigation interrupt due to the low waters.

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Government's bill opens indigenous territories for commercial exploitation

Illegal gold mining camp in Jamanxim National Park (PA)

Crédito: Felipe Werneck/Ibama/CC BY-SA 2.0

5 Feb 20

Government’s bill opens indigenous territories for commercial exploitation

During a celebratory ceremony that marked 400 days of Bolsonaro’s mandate, the federal government presented bill 191/2020 that aims to open indigenous territories for commercial exploitation. The bill proposes to regulate the extraction of gas, oil, gold and other minerals, as well as infrastructure such as hydropower plants and dams to generate electricity. The bill needs to be discussed and voted by the National Congress.

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