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Lessons from the historical dynamics of environmental law enforcement in the Brazilian Amazon.

ABSTRACT: Here, we analyze critical changes in environmental law enforcement in the Brazilian Amazon between 2000 and 2020. Based on a dataset of law enforcement indicators, we discuss how these changes explain recent Amazon deforestation dynamics. Our analysis also covers changes in the legal prosecution process and documents a militarization of enforcement between 2018 and 2022. From 2004 to 2018, 43.6 thousand land-use embargoes and 84.3 thousand fines were issued, targeting 3.3 million ha of land, and totaling USD 9.3 billion in penalties. Nevertheless, enforcement relaxed and became spatially more limited, signaling an increasing lack of commitment by the State to enforcing the law. The number of embargoes and asset confiscations dropped by 59% and 55% in 2019 and 2020, respectively. These changes were accompanied by a marked increase in enforcement expenditure, suggesting a massive efficiency loss. More importantly, the creation of so-called conciliation hearings and the centralization of legal processes in 2019 reduced the number of actual judgments and fines collected by 85% and decreased the ratio between lawsuits resulting in paid fines over filed ones from 17 to 5%. As Brazil gears up to crack-down on illegal deforestation once again, our assessment suggests urgent entry points for policy action.

SUBMITTER: Nunes FSM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10800348 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Lessons from the historical dynamics of environmental law enforcement in the Brazilian Amazon.

Nunes Felipe S M FSM Soares-Filho Britaldo S BS Oliveira Amanda R AR Veloso Laura V S LVS Schmitt Jair J Van der Hoff Richard R Assis Debora C DC Costa Rayane P RP Börner Jan J Ribeiro Sonia M C SMC Rajão Raoni G L RGL de Oliveira Ubirajara U Costa Marcelo Azevedo MA

Scientific reports 20240121 1

Here, we analyze critical changes in environmental law enforcement in the Brazilian Amazon between 2000 and 2020. Based on a dataset of law enforcement indicators, we discuss how these changes explain recent Amazon deforestation dynamics. Our analysis also covers changes in the legal prosecution process and documents a militarization of enforcement between 2018 and 2022. From 2004 to 2018, 43.6 thousand land-use embargoes and 84.3 thousand fines were issued, targeting 3.3 million ha of land, and ...[more]

PMID: 38246941

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Project description:ImportanceOpioid-involved overdose mortality has been on the rise for 2 decades in the US, exacerbated by an unregulated drug supply that is unpredictable and has increasingly contained highly potent fentanyl analogs starting a decade ago.ObjectiveTo determine whether there is a geospatial association between law enforcement drug seizures and opioid-involved overdose mortality in San Francisco.Design, setting, and participantsThis cross-sectional study used location- and time-stamped overdose mortality data from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and publicly available crime data from the San Francisco Police Department between 2020 and 2023 to assess whether location and time of law enforcement drug seizures were associated with subsequent opioid-involved overdose mortality. Data were analyzed from January 2020 to September 2023.ExposuresTime-stamped locations of law enforcement drug seizures involving a drug distribution charge.Main outcomes and measuresThe primary outcomes were the time and location of (1) overdose mortality involving any opioid and (2) overdose mortality involving fentanyl or any fentanyl analog. The relative risk (RR) and 95% CIs for endemic and epidemic factors were calculated.ResultsThere were 2653 drug seizure crime events that involved any drug distribution charge and 1833 overdose deaths that tested positive for any opioid or synthetic opioid, including heroin and fentanyl analogs. Within the surrounding 100 meters, law enforcement drug seizures were associated with increase risk of fatal opioid-involved overdoses the day following the drug seizure event (RR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.06-2.83; P = .03) and elevated risk persisted for 7 days (2 days: RR, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.09-2.21; P = .02; 3 days: RR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.08-1.93; P = .01; 7 days: RR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.11-1.46; P = .001). Similar statistically significant spatiotemporal patterns were observed in the 250- and 500-meter spatial bandwidths. Within each space-time kernel, the strength of the association, all of which were statistically significant, dissipated the further away in time and distance from the law enforcement drug seizure event.Conclusions and relevanceThe findings of this cross-sectional study suggest that the enforcement of drug distribution laws to increase public safety for residents in San Francisco may be having an unintended negative consequence of increasing opioid overdose mortality. To reduce overdose mortality, it may be better to focus on evidence-based health policies and interventions.

Dataset Information

Lessons from the historical dynamics of environmental law enforcement in the Brazilian Amazon.

Publications

Lessons from the historical dynamics of environmental law enforcement in the Brazilian Amazon.

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