Climate Change and Forests
The urgency and gravity of climate change push for effective mitigation and adaptation actions. Rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and biodiversity loss are just some of the consequences demanding immediate attention. Faced with the shortcomings of climate change governance, State and non-State actors are increasingly turning to judicial institutions to advance their claims for environmental protection. By requesting advisory opinions on the interpretation of treaties or the international obligations regarding climate change, State and non-State actors can gain valuable legal clarity and potentially strengthen their claims for environmental protection. Furthermore, deforestation, a critically overlooked issue that exacerbates climate change, compels international institutions to adopt dedicated regulatory instruments to tackle it effectively. Forests play a vital role in carbon sequestration, and deforestation releases significant amounts of greenhouse gases back into the atmosphere. By strengthening regulations on trade, promoting sustainable forest management practices, and enforcing existing environmental laws, international institutions can play a crucial role in curbing deforestation and mitigating climate change.
Monitoring the impacts of the European Deforestation-Free Regulation (EUDR) in Brazil
Considering a multilateral gap on forest protection framework, several countries and international organizations are already seeking to address the issue by their own mechanisms. Such is the case with the European Deforestation-Free Regulation (EUDR). The EUDR presents both opportunities and challenges for producing countries. The Regulation brings a different approach to international forest governance as it lays down rules regarding the ‘placing and making available on the European Union (EU) market, as well as the export from the Union’ of seven specific commodities and their subproducts: cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soy, and wood.
Brazil, as a major producer and dependent on the export of its commodities, is very sensitive to how this issue could affect its economy. In particular, Brazilian stakeholders are concerned about how they should prepare for the EUDR’s implementation, how they might be affected by it and what conflicts may arise. Thus, projects under this core dimension aim to assess potential challenges, opportunities and impacts of the norm in Brazil, while also conjecturing scenarios and proposing recommendations for decision-makers and other stakeholders.
Research Projects
-
Monitoring the Regulatory Impact of the European Union’s New Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products in Brazil - Instituto Clima e Sociedade
-
How to regulate forests? Na empirical analysis of the legitimacy of applicable international and regional measures and their impacts in Brazil” - FGV Applied Research Network [RPCAP (PPA) – Edital 001/2023] and FAPERJ Nº 10/2024
-
Monitoring the extraterritorial effects of European Union (EU) sustainability normas: challenges for the indirect implementation of the EUDR in Brazil - Instituto Clima e Sociedade
Main products
• “Regulating Forests: Monitoring the Impacts of the EUDR” platform (available here)
• Newsletter on EUDR updates and our publications (available here)
• Policy Brief “Challenges and opportunities for the EUDR’s implementation in Brazil: discussing dispute resolution mechanisms”(available here)
• Policy Brief “Assessing the Challenges of the EUDR's Indirect Implementation in Brazil: What Lies Ahead?” (available here)
• Policy Brief T20 “Challenges in the Multilateral Debate on International Forest Regulation: An Analysis of the Applicability and Impact of the EUDR for the G20” (available here)
• Preview in Mandarin “Challenges and opportunities for the EUDR’s implementation in Brazil: discussing dispute resolution mechanisms (欧盟零毁林法案（EUDR）在巴西的实施：应对挑战与推动争议解决替代机制)” (available here)
• Report “A In-Depth Analysis of the Regulatory and Normative Challenges to Brazilian Legal Order in Light of the New EUDR Requirements”. (available here)
• Report “EUDR’s new supporting documents” (available here)
• Report “The EU-Mercosur Agreement and the EUDR” (available here)
• Press article “Novos capítulos da lei europeia sobre desmatamento” Published in 28 December 2023 - Folha de São Paulo (available here).
• Press article “Lei antidesmatamento europeia desafia o Brasil: estamos prontos?” Published in 11 June 2024 - Estadão (available here).
• Press article “Menos tempo e mais dúvidas: a entrada em vigor da lei antidesmatamento europeia se aproxima” Published in 24 September 2024 - Correio Braziliense (available here).
• Press article “Comissão Europeia cede às pressões internacionais e adia entrada em vigor da Regulamentação sobre Desmatamento” Published in 23 October 2024 - Correio Braziliense (available here).
• Press article “Parlamento Europeu adia lei sobre desmatamento: o que muda agora?” Published in 30 November 2024 - Correio Braziliense (available here)
• Press article “Caso Danone e a Lei Antidesmatamento da União Europeia”. Published in 29 December 2024 - Jota (available here)
• Press article “O audacioso passo da União Europeia na regulamentação do metano” Published in 30 December 2024 - Estadão (available here)
• Press article “Reviravolta nas políticas de ESG da UE: o que muda na iniciativa 'Omnibus' e como pode afetar Brasil?” Published in 29 April 2025 - Conjur (available here)
