The Brazilian and international press reported the tragic advance of fire in two of the most important biomes in the world, the Amazon and the Pantanal. From January to mid-September this year, according to the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE), 69,500 hot spots were recorded in the Amazon. During the first half of September 2020, in the Amazon, there was an 86% increase in hot spots compared to the same period last year.
The Pantanal is a biome of lesser extension but with a very important biodiversity. There are, for example, refuges of jaguars and blue macaws, symbols of the Brazilian fauna, which did not escape the fires and can become extinct from the territory of the state of Mato Grosso. This year, the Pantanal has seen the highest growth of hotspots among biomes. Registrations increased by 219% compared to the same period in 2019, with 15.9 thousand outbreaks recorded until September 19, 2020.
Through this technical note, the CIDCE urges the Brazilian government to take vigorous and immediate measures to fight against this colossal tragedy, which affects the environment, climate equilibrium, human health, the subsistence of traditional populations, the economy, international trade and territorial heritage, and has ramifications that transcend national borders.
To this end, it is necessary that the Brazilian executive branch a) applies the constitution and the law rigorously, providing environmental agencies with the necessary resources, b) strengthens environmental inspection, vigorously and unequivocally punishing irregular activities such as land grabbing and illegal timber extraction and mining, c) fights and punishes arson in an exemplary manner and d) apples and strengthens policies to combat climate change, given that climate imbalance increases the risk of major and unmanageable forest fires. The judiciary shall be able to continue to uphold, in complete independence, the human right to the environment and the right to health, in particular those of the indigenous population’s victims of Covid-19.[1]
Limoges, September 29, 2020,
With the support of Professors Michel PRIEUR and Paulo Affonso Leme MACHADO, And the support of Brazilian Professors and Lawyers: Alessandra LEHMEN, Ingo SARLET, Jose Rubens Morato LEITE, Tiago FENSTERSEIFER, Cristiane DERANI, Jose Antonio TIETZMANN, Fernanda Cavedon CAPDEVILLE.
[1] See PRIEUR, Michel. Halte au Covid 19 en Amazonie: le juge au secours des indiens et de la forêt : https://www.goodplanet.info/2020/07/28/halte-au-covid-19-en-amazonie-le-juge-au-secours-des-indiens-et-de-la-foret/.