The Brazilian state of Pará is defending local regulations that encourage illegal gold mining in the region against the Green Party.
The state, which will host the COP30 global climate summit next year in the Amazon, is fighting in court against a case submitted by the Green Party about municipal authorities’ right to license gold prospects of up to 500 ha, Reuters reports with a reference to its sources. The party says the legislation encourages illegal gold mining in a state already accused of such activities.
The federal government through the environmental protection agency Ibama, its solicitor general and the country's top public prosecutor are backing the lawsuit calling for the abolition of Pará's mining rules. The Pará government currently opposes the lawsuit in the Supreme Court.
Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva asked to host COP30 in Pará's state capital Belem, at the mouth of the Amazon River, to showcase his efforts to stop deforestation of the rainforest, which acts as one of the world's largest carbon sinks to slow global warming. He has also pledged to end illegal gold mining, much of which takes place on protected Indigenous lands.
Earlier, Brazilian authorities claimed they have almost quenched the illegal mining operations in the Yanomami reservation of the Amazon rainforest that have caused a humanitarian crisis of disease and malnutrition in the region.
Mercury contamination is a usual consequence of illegal gold mining operations. Pollution of rivers makes them uninhabitable by fish which leads to malnutrition of local tribes, affecting their ability to obtain food. Active gold digging also exacerbated problems with malaria brought by the miners, which was addressed by the authorities by opening medical outposts for locals.
Theodor Lisovoy, Managing Editor, Rough&Polished
