The awakening of climate litigation in Brazil: strategies based on the existing legal toolkit
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17808/des.59.1821Keywords:
environment, climate crisis, climate litigation, environmental licensing, civil environmental liability, toolkit.Abstract
Abstract: This paper aims to explore part of the existing legal toolkit - of legislation, case law, and doctrine - that is already consolidated in the Environmental Law field and should be explored for litigating the climate crisis in Brazil. The article makes the case that Brazil is a fertile ground for climate litigation by articulating already established and successfully tested legal avenues for preventing, mitigating, and compensating adverse environmental impacts caused by the private sector or by the State, and that can be brought before national courts as strong legal arguments. Like a frame of glasses, the legal framework that underpins environmental licensing and civil environmental liability in Brazil needs to receive the "lenses" of climate change in order to be transformed into an effective climate litigation tool.
Keywords: environment, climate crisis, climate litigation, environmental licensing, civil environmental liability, toolkit.
Resumo: Este artigo tem como objetivo explorar parte do conjunto de ferramentas jurídicas existente - jurisprudencial, legislativa e doutrinária - que já está consolidado no campo do Direito Ambiental e deve ser explorado para litigar a crise climática no Brasil. O artigo defende que o Brasil é um terreno fértil para litígios climáticos ao articular vias legais já testadas com sucesso para prevenir, mitigar e compensar impactos ambientais adversos causados tanto pelo setor privado, quanto pelo Estado, e que podem ser apresentados aos tribunais nacionais como fortes argumentos jurídicos. Como uma armação de óculos, o arcabouço jurídico que fundamenta o licenciamento ambiental e a responsabilidade civil ambiental no Brasil precisa receber as "lentes" das mudanças climáticas para se transformar em um instrumento eficaz de litígio climático.
Palavras-chave: meio ambiente; crise climática; litígio climático; licenciamento ambiental; responsabilidade civil ambiental; kit de ferramentas
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