Brazil and Climate Justice - (International Environmental Law) by Maria Antonia Tigre & Armando Rocha & Délton Winter de Carvalho (Hardcover)

About the Book

This edited book, the first focused on Brazilian climate litigation for an international audience, explores one of the fastest-growing jurisdictions in the field, offering insights for scholars, litigators, judges and policymakers worldwide on the innovative legal strategies employed in Brazilian courts.

Book Synopsis

The stakes of climate change in Brazil extend far beyond its borders, influencing global biodiversity, the Amazon rainforest, and planetary climate stability. With the fourth-highest number of climate cases worldwide and a leadership role in the Global South, Brazil stands at the forefront of the global climate justice movement. This edited volume delves into nearly 90 groundbreaking cases, uncovering innovative legal strategies and their profound implications for international climate policies. Highlighting Brazil's unique ecological importance, particularly the Amazon's role in sustaining global balance, the book features contributions from leading scholars and litigators. This indispensable resource offers critical insights and inspires creative legal pathways to tackle the world's most pressing climate challenges.

Review Quotes

[T]his volume offers a fresh and vital perspective by turning a focused lens on a country that occupies a paradoxical position in the global climate landscape....This collection edited by Maria Antonia Tigre, Armando Rocha, and Délton Winter de Carvalho brings into view a compelling and often underexplored arena of the global struggle for climate justice and accountability.
-Antoine De Spiegeleir, in Human Rights Law Review, Volume 25, Issue 4, December 2025

In terms of climate litigation, Brazil is not only the leading country in the Global South, but one of the leading countries in the world. The path-breaking interpretation of the Paris Agreement as a human rights treaty by the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court has the potential to reshape litigation globally. Today, climate litigation in Brazil is burgeoning and spawning new legal theories and legal strategies. Yet developments in Brazil remain virtually unknown to most European and American scholars. This book will be an invaluable resource, not only for those scholars, but for lawyers and judges in Brazil, the rest of Latin America, and elsewhere.
Dan Farber, Sho Sato Professor of Law & Faculty Director, Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, University of California, Berkeley

Climate Change Litigation in Brazil offers a comprehensive examination of the growing field of climate litigation within Brazil, positioning the country as a critical player in the global climate governance landscape. Written by a dream team of Brazilian practitioners and scholars, the book delves into the significant role of Brazil in tackling climate change due to its unique status as both a major greenhouse gas emitter and a custodian of vital ecosystems, like the Amazon rainforest. The book explores Brazil's judicial system's increasing engagement with climate-related cases, focusing on human rights, biodiversity protection, and just transition. By analyzing groundbreaking rulings from Brazilian courts and drawing connections to global trends, this book highlights how legal strategies and court activism in Brazil are shaping national and international climate action efforts. It's an essential resource for anyone interested in understanding how legal systems in the Global South, particularly Brazil, are responding to the urgent challenge of climate change.
Joana Setzer, Associate Professorial Research Fellow, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

Brazil is the most biodiverse country in the world. We have an environmentalist Constitution that is mindful of future generations. Nevertheless, we experienced a period of anti-environmental state management from 2019 to 2022, accompanied by an increase in climate litigation. This book on climate litigation in Brazil delves into the Brazilian experience, exploring the potential benefits of judicial action while critically examining the separation of powers and the rights of the most vulnerable people affected by extreme climate events. It offers an excellent opportunity to understand climate litigation in the Global South, with its unique characteristics, and to ensure that the Paris Agreement is strategically implemented through court action.
Mariana Cirne, Full Professor of the Stricto Sensu Postgraduate Program in Constitutional Law at the Instituto Brasileiro de Ensino, Desenvolvimento e Pesquisa (IDP) and Chief Prosecutor of the Brazilian National Attorney's Office for Climate and Environmental Defense

About the Author

Maria Antonia Tigre is the Director of Global Climate Litigation at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School (United States).

Armando Rocha is a Professor of International Law, Law of the Sea, and Climate Change Law at Universidade Católica Portuguesa and researcher at the Católica Research Centre for the Future of the Law (Portugal).

Délton Winter de Carvalho is the Director of the Environmental Law Program at UNISINOS (Brazil).