Summary
On June 5, 2023, an Ecocide Bill was submitted to the Brazilian Congress that seeks to criminalize “illegal or wanton acts with the knowledge that they generate a substantial probability of serious and widespread or long-term damage to the environment” – reflecting the international definition of ecocide. The penalty for ecocide would be 5 to 15 years imprisonment and a fine. Notably, the text of the legislation states that “the crime of ecocide does not apply to indigenous and traditional populations who continue to live in their own way tradition and in their territories.” On November 7, 2023, the bill was voted through by the Environment and Sustainable Development Committee, a step froward in the process to become law.
This Bill was authored and submitted by the PSOL political party (Partido Socialismo e Liberdade) and supported by a coalition of organizations including Ecoe Brasil, Climate Counsel, Observatório do Clima, Stop Ecocide International, International Rivers, Climate Counsel, and others. PSOL states that: “The legislative proposal was designed, above all, to reinforce the protection of the Amazon Forest and other threatened biomes in Brazil. The crime of ecocide will also reinforce the protection of indigenous and traditional peoples, guardians of forests, who depend on a balanced environment to maintain their cultures and ways of life.”