Sabrina Lehnen Stoll
Translation: Ligia Payão Chizolini
The documentary "O Amanhã é Hoje – The Plight of Brazilians Affected by Climate Change" was released in December 2018 during the UN Climate Conference (COP 24) in Katowice, Poland. Produced by Greenpeace Brazil, it is freely available on YouTube, offering broad public access to raise awareness about the impacts of climate change across various regions of Brazil.
Climate change has led to recurring extreme effects in multiple regions of Brazil, exposing vulnerabilities and demanding reflection on climate governance. The documentary "O Amanhã é Hoje", launched by Greenpeace Brazil, illustrates, through four real-life stories, how urban, riverside, and Indigenous communities are already confronting the impacts of global warming. This scenario is exacerbated by the intensification of events such as extreme rainfall, prolonged droughts, coastal erosion, and heatwaves, which directly affect the quality of life and safety of populations in at-risk areas (GREENPEACE, 2018).
One of the most striking accounts takes place in Nova Friburgo, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, where heavy rains and landslides devastated the city, leaving a trail of destruction. Such events, common in mountainous regions, were worsened by inadequate infrastructure and poor urban planning, increasing slope vulnerabilities and making adaptation to extreme weather events more costly. Studies indicate that mountainous areas like Nova Friburgo are particularly susceptible to natural disasters due to soil saturation and the growing intensity of rainfall, a phenomenon directly linked to rising global temperatures according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2021; INPE, 2024).
In addition to intense rainfall, the documentary also addresses the increase in coastal erosion and heatwaves in urban coastal areas, where rising sea levels and the "urban heat island" effect threaten not only infrastructure but also public health. This phenomenon, intensified by unplanned urbanization and low tree coverage, raises the risks of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, disproportionately affecting low-income populations with limited access to healthcare and cooling systems (WHO, 2022). This scenario reflects social inequality in Brazil, exposing underprivileged populations to even harsher living conditions during extreme weather events.
In Brazil’s Northeast, riverside communities are grappling with the impacts of prolonged droughts, which compromise water security and subsistence agriculture, jeopardizing food security. The Brazilian Panel on Climate Change (PBMC) forecasts a reduction of up to 40% in average annual precipitation by 2050, which will exacerbate water scarcity, endangering subsistence practices and accelerating rural migration (PBMC, 2020). According to FAO (2021), the reduction in water resources in the Northeast threatens the sustainability of subsistence farming, the main source of income for these communities, creating a food insecurity situation aggravated by the progressive loss of access to potable water.
Another critical issue addressed in the documentary is the impact of wildfires and deforestation in the Amazon. In 2024, the Amazon recorded a total of 102,993 fire outbreaks by September, an increase compared to the previous year, intensified by the El Niño phenomenon and high temperatures that render vegetation drier and more flammable (INPE, 2024). According to WWF Brazil, approximately 52% of these outbreaks are human-induced, primarily due to illegal deforestation aimed at expanding agriculture and cattle ranching. The smoke from the fires directly affects public health, increasing the incidence of respiratory diseases, especially among children and the elderly (WWF Brazil, 2024; GREENPEACE, 2024).
Faced with the challenges posed by climate change, Brazil has developed legislation to promote climate mitigation and adaptation. Law No. 14,904 of 2024 and Decree No. 11,235 of 2022 represent joint efforts to strengthen the protection of communities in at-risk areas by promoting adaptation policies and actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, these policies still face challenges in practical implementation, particularly in regions that most need support to adopt adaptive measures.
Law No. 14,904 of 2024 establishes guidelines for reducing emissions and promoting climate adaptation actions, encouraging the transition to renewable energy, improving energy efficiency, and restoring degraded ecosystems (BRAZIL, 2024). Nevertheless, the implementation of this law requires continuous and adequate support for the most vulnerable and economically fragile regions, which need specific infrastructure and resources to sustainably and effectively manage extreme weather events. The lack of funding and targeted actions for these regions undermines the legislation’s success and hinders the achievement of its proposed objectives.
Decree No. 11,235 of 2022 also aims to strengthen climate adaptation in Brazil by promoting coordination among federal, state, and municipal governments to protect the areas most affected by climate change. The decree encourages the development of resilient infrastructure and the creation of early warning systems for natural disasters such as landslides and floods, which are essential for at-risk areas (BRAZIL, 2022). Despite its well-defined directives, the practical application of this decree faces limitations due to insufficient investments in protective infrastructure and in training fire brigades in remote, hard-to-access areas where government presence is crucial for combating illegal activities and deforestation.
In addition to implementation challenges, the environmental monitoring system also faces hurdles. Insufficient resources, staffing shortages, and logistical support deficiencies hinder the effective oversight of illegal activities such as deforestation and criminal fires in the Amazon. Although the government allocated R$ 11 million for emergency actions, experts consider this amount insufficient given the extent and severity of fires and deforestation in the Amazon biome. Impunity and difficulties in monitoring remote areas encourage the continuation of these practices, harming local communities and the region's biodiversity (GREENPEACE, 2024; WWF Brazil, 2024).
An innovative and promising proposal to strengthen climate governance in Brazil is the recognition of the fundamental right to climate. According to Stoll (2023), the right to climate should be considered a fundamental right, as climate protection is essential to ensure minimum conditions for a healthy and balanced life. This legal recognition would compel the State to adopt stricter and more inclusive mitigation and adaptation measures, promoting public policies that consider climate justice and environmental protection, with a clear commitment to safeguarding current and future generations.
The fundamental right to climate could thus serve as a guiding principle for the development and implementation of environmental and climate adaptation policies, promoting integrated and cross-sector governance. By ensuring that the right to climate is respected, Brazil would strengthen its commitment to sustainability and ensure the implementation of more equitable and effective environmental policies, focusing on vulnerable populations and preserving ecosystems essential for climate stability (Stoll, 2023). This approach could serve as a model for other nations facing similar challenges, amplifying the impact of climate policies and promoting governance committed to justice and environmental protection.
Implementing the fundamental right to climate in Brazil would represent a crucial advancement in promoting inclusive and adaptive environmental governance. By placing climate and ecological well-being at the center of political and social decisions, this right reinforces the national commitment to climate justice and the protection of the most vulnerable populations, who are most affected by climate change. Furthermore, by enshrining the right to climate as a structuring principle of Brazilian environmental policy, the country could position itself as a leader in sustainability, creating a model to inspire other nations to adopt similar approaches. This legal milestone would strengthen the foundations for a more integrated and sustainable environmental policy, ensuring ecosystem conservation and adaptation in a future where climate change remains a global challenge.
References
BRAZIL. Decree No. 11,235, of September 8, 2022. Establishes guidelines for climate adaptation. Official Gazette of the Union: Brasília, DF, 2022.
BRAZIL. Law No. 14,904, of June 27, 2024. Provides for climate mitigation and adaptation in Brazil. Official Gazette of the Union: Brasília, DF, 2024.
FAO. Food Security Report in Brazil. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2021.
GREENPEACE. O Amanhã é Hoje – The Plight of Brazilians Affected by Climate Change. Documentary, 2018.
INPE. Monitoring of Wildfires in the Amazon in 2024. Available at: http://queimadas.dgi.inpe.br/. Accessed: Oct. 23, 2024.
IPCC. Sixth Assessment Report. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2021.
WHO. Health and Climate Change Report. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2022.
PBMC. National Climate Change Report. Brazilian Panel on Climate Change, 2020.
STOLL, Sabrina Lehnen. Fundamental Right to Climate Protection. São Paulo: XYZ Publishing, 2023.
WWF Brazil. The Amazon Has Already Registered Over 50,000 Fire Outbreaks in 2024, and Smoke Spreads Across the Country. 2024. Available at: https://www.wwf.org.br/. Accessed: Oct. 23, 2024
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