In a country with so many inequalities, ensuring that all people can defend their rights is fundamental. Especially in regions like the Amazon, where disputes over forest, land and territory are recurrent, this is even more urgent. Many communities in the region suffer from constant violence and rights violations, mainly due to territorial conflicts and environmental crimes such as illegal mining and land grabbing, but they are not always able to get answers in the face of damage and violations to their rights and the environment.
The existence of good laws is not enough - they must actually work for everyone. Therefore, ensuring that all people have access to justice is indispensable for tackling violations and promoting rights.
After all, what is access to environmental justice?
Access to justice goes far beyond simple access to the judiciary. It involves the real possibility for all people, especially those in the most vulnerable situations, to obtain effective responses to conflicts, rights violations and environmental damage. This dimension is rooted in the Federal Constitution, in various laws and in international treaties such as the Escazú Agreement, which recognizes environmental justice as a pillar for guaranteeing equity, combating environmental racism and protecting territories. In Brazil, although we have relevant instruments, such as public civil action and strict liability for environmental damage, there is still a gap between what is on paper and what reaches the communities.
The broad concept of environmental justice also involves ensuring that the benefits and harms related to the environment are distributed fairly among everyone. This means confronting the logic in which more powerful groups benefit from natural resources, while the negative impacts - such as pollution, loss of land or water scarcity - fall on the most vulnerable populations. To change this reality, the rights of these populations must be recognized and their voices must be guaranteed in decision-making spaces - exactly what the Federal Constitution and the Escazú Agreement advocate.
How does IDA measure access to justice?
The IDA evaluates this dimension based on 25 indicators, which measure the existence of specialized structures for environmental and agrarian issues and for indigenous peoples and traditional communities, actions to expand service in remote areas, training actions, the achievement of targets for environmental and land processes, and the promotion of racial and gender diversity. The Judiciary, the Public Prosecutor's Office, the Public Defender's Office and the police forces were evaluated.
Therefore, despite the broad understanding of the concept of access to justice, the access to justice dimension of the IDA focuses on assessing access to environmental justice in the organs of the Brazilian justice system: are there functioning environmental prosecutors' offices and courts? Are there ombudsmen for indigenous populations and traditional communities? Are the institutions present in the most remote territories?
Therefore, ensuring that all people have access to the justice system is indispensable for tackling violations and promoting rights. The Environmental Democracy Index aims to measure exactly that: how the state responds - or fails to respond - to the growing demand for justice on environmental issues.
What do the results show?
The access to justice dimension had the highest average score of the four IDA dimensions, with 53 points among the states of the Legal Amazon. However, this result shows that, despite some progress, there is still a lot to be done. The federal agencies (MPF, DPU, TRF1 and PF) stood out, with 81.9 points. In the states, the best evaluated were Maranhão and Amazonas, with more than 60 points.
On the other hand, Roraima (29) and Amapá (37.5) had the worst results, demonstrating the lack of specialized justice structures for environmental and agrarian issues in the Amazon.
In this dimension, we observed the presence of specialized structures, such as environmental prosecutors and police stations, and commissions for land solutions in the judiciary, although there are relevant gaps - such as the low number of environmental and agrarian courts and structures for indigenous peoples and traditional communities. Initiatives to expand access to justice in remote areas exist, but rarely deal with environmental issues. The results indicate important advances, but the need for improvements to make socio-environmental rights effective in the region.
Why does it matter?
When justice doesn't reach people, conflicts are invisibilized and reinforced. The state's failure to guarantee effective justice for forest peoples, family farmers, quilombolas and indigenous people is one of the deepest faces of injustice and environmental racism. The lack of specialized institutions in remote areas and the neglect of institutional diversity are subtle but powerful forms of social exclusion.
Environmental democracy requires more than laws, it requires action. If we want to guarantee rights and protect the Amazon, we need to invest in justice that reaches the territories, that understands local contexts and that treats seriously the environmental impacts that fall on the most vulnerable.
