Brazilian Supreme Court reaches majority vote to determine reactivation of Amazon protection fund

The Brazilian Supreme Court yesterday reached a majority vote to determine the reactivation, within a maximum of 60 days, of the Amazon Fund, created to raise funds and finance environmental protection measures, which must release 1.5 billion reais (about US$ 300 million) to protect the largest rainforest in the world.

According to the statement released Thursday by the Supreme Federal Court (STF), seven of the eleven members of the Supreme Court were in favor of forcing the Federal Government to resume the management of the fund to combat deforestation in the Amazon, while one judge was against and three others did not pronounce.

The trial, which remains suspended, should be resumed at the next session, scheduled for Nov. 3, for the vote of all STF members.

The STF is judging an action filed in June 2020 by several Brazilian opposition parties, in addition to entities linked to the environment, which requested the recognition of the Government’s omission in the care and prevention of the Amazon and the release of 1.5 billion reais from the fund.

Created in 2008, the fund receives donations from international institutions and governments to finance actions to prevent and combat deforestation in the Amazon.

In 2019, Germany and Norway, the main financiers of the fund, suspended their donations after the Brazilian Government announced that it wanted to implement changes in the current format.