The Attorney General’s Office (AGU) and the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court of Pará this Monday (16) to demand financial compensation for climate damage. 
The lawsuit seeks compensation of R$635 million for illegal cattle ranching in the Jamanxim National Forest, a conservation unit located in the Amazon. It is the first lawsuit for climate damages filed by ICMBio and the AGU.
According to the agencies, the social damage involves damages caused by deforestation, illegal burning, application of pesticides, destruction of permanent preservation areas and the prevention of regeneration of the degraded area. In the action, the agencies asked the courts to vacate the area within 30 days.
During the inspection, ICMBio agents caught around 3,000 head of cattle in the deforested areas. The animals were not registered with the Pará agricultural surveillance agency. The irregular farms were fined and embargoed by the institute.
During the ceremony announcing the filing of the lawsuit, the Attorney General of the Union, Jorge Messias, assured that the federal government will be strict in punishing environmental crimes. “The federal government will have zero tolerance for environmental offenders. We will not tolerate, under any circumstances, any type of environmental violation, especially in conservation and preservation areas,” he stated.
The calculation of the damage was assessed based on the social cost of greenhouse gas emissions in the damaged area. It is estimated that 1,139,075 tons of carbon were emitted in the 7,075 hectares of the conservation unit that were damaged.
