The Hague Court Receives The ‘Planet Vs Bolsonaro’ Complaint

On Tuesday, the Austrian NGO All Rise filed a complaint in the Hague Criminal Court against Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, who is being accused of crimes against humanity due to his involvement in the deforestation of the Amazon basin.

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The "Planet vs. Bolsonaro" complaint, which seeks to create international jurisprudence on the treatment of environmental common goods, points out that his actions not only represent an attack against the Amazon jungle and its biodiversity but an attack against all humankind.

"The destruction of the Amazon biome affects all of us. Our complaint shows how Bolsonaro's actions are directly linked to the negative impacts of climate change all over the world," the All Rise founder Johannes Wesemann said and explained that these tropical forests are globally important ecosystems for their ability to capture CO2 and maintain adequate oxygen levels.

Besides being prepared with the support of international lawyers such as Maud Sarlieve and Nigel Povoas, the All Rise complaint had the contributions of the climatologist Friederike Otto, who is one of the authors of the latest report of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Climate Change (IPCC).

The team of experts convened by All Rise estimates that CO2 emissions related to Bolsonaro's decisions will cause an additional 180,000 deaths due to the increase in average temperature during this century.

The complainants highlighted that the far-right President systematically sought to eliminate, mutilate and empty the content of the laws, organizations and individuals that protected the Amazon. Sice Bolsonaro took office in 2019, he has been directly responsible for the loss of nearly 4,000 square kilometers of Amazon rainforest per year.

This case was presented on the eve of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, an event in which the international community will pressure Brazil to reduce CO2 emissions that come from the expansion of commercial activities in the Amazon rainforest.