A Brazilian cattle rancher has reportedly been ordered by court to pay more than $50m (£39m) for destroying part of the Amazon rainforest and ordered to restore the precious carbon sink.
Recall that last week, a federal court in Brazil froze the assets of Dirceu Kruger to pay compensation for the damage he had caused to the climate through illegal deforestation. The case was brought by Brazil’s attorney general’s office, representing the Brazilian institute of environment and renewable natural resources (Ibama). It is the largest civil case brought for climate crimes in Brazil to date and the start of a legal push to repair and deter damage to the rainforest.
Kruger had previously been forced to pay damages by Ibama for destroying 5,600 hectares (13,838 acres) in the Amazonian municipalities of Boca do Acre and Lábrea. This was on public land belonging to the federal government and the state of Amazonas.
The rancher used chainsaws to clear vegetation, then set fires to clear the land and finally planted grass to establish pasture for raising cattle. Satellite images showed the scale of the damage and Kruger admitted having caused it on film.
The Amazon rainforest is vital to the global climate system, but is seriously threatened by legal and illegal activities; a recent study showed that half of it could hit a tipping point by 2050.
Bringing a civil case against Kruger, the attorney general’s office argued that his actions had damaged the climate in two ways: burning vegetation directly emits greenhouse gases and removing plants means they can no longer draw carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The court heard that damaging the Amazon rainforest emits on average 161 tonnes of carbon per hectare, leading to a total of 901,600 tonnes.
The court assessed the value of this damage at €60 ($65/£50) a tonne, a number derived from averaging the social cost of carbon calculated by the US Environmental Protection Agency and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This is a relatively low figure; more recent estimates of social cost are significantly higher.
This put the total damage caused by Kruger at 292m Brazilian reais ($50m). The money paid by Kruger will go to the national climate emergency fund. Kruger’s assets have been frozen and he is banned from receiving government finance or tax benefits. He is also forbidden from selling cattle and agricultural products, as well as buying machinery such as chainsaws and tractors.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
