Ferrogrão: Weaknesses and Lessons Learned in Implementing a Sustainable Infrastructure Agenda

The Ferrogrão (EF-170) project is a proposed 930 km railroad designed to lower soy export costs from Mato Grosso by routing cargo through the Amazon rainforest to the Miritituba terminal. While intended to reduce carbon emissions, the project faces significant socio-environmental challenges, including a 2017 proposal to withdraw public access from BR-163/MT/PA that would have impacted nearly one million hectares of forests in conservation units. Despite legal challenges to environmental studies and public consultations between 2017 and 2018, the project's concession model was approved in July 2020. The analysis highlights a tension between the Brazilian government's push for infrastructure-led economic recovery and a global trend toward more rigid, sustainable socio-environmental investment standards, which are increasingly viewed by investors as a means to reduce financial risk.

• The Ferrogrão railroad project involves the construction of approximately 930 km of greenfield railroads crossing the Amazon rainforest, with an estimated cost of nearly R$ 17 billion.
• A 2017 Provisional Decree to withdraw public access from part of the BR-163/MT/PA right-of-way for the railroad would have affected nearly one million hectares of forests within conservation units.
• The project's environmental studies and public consultation processes were legally challenged twice between 2017 and 2018, though the project cycle continued with the concession model's approval in July 2020.
• There is an emerging global investment trend toward more rigid and sustainable socio-environmental standards, driven by the belief that such investments are less risky and more financially attractive.

APA

Climate Policy Initiative (2020). Ferrogrão: Weaknesses and Lessons Learned in Implementing a Sustainable Infrastructure Agenda. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/ferrograo-weaknesses-and-lessons-learned-in-implementing-a-sustainable-infrastructure-agenda/

Chicago

Climate Policy Initiative. Ferrogrão: Weaknesses and Lessons Learned in Implementing a Sustainable Infrastructure Agenda. 2020. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/ferrograo-weaknesses-and-lessons-learned-in-implementing-a-sustainable-infrastructure-agenda/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Policy Initiative |title=Ferrogrão: Weaknesses and Lessons Learned in Implementing a Sustainable Infrastructure Agenda |date=23 September 2020 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/ferrograo-weaknesses-and-lessons-learned-in-implementing-a-sustainable-infrastructure-agenda/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatepolicyinitiative2020ferrogro, author = {{Climate Policy Initiative}}, title = {{Ferrogrão: Weaknesses and Lessons Learned in Implementing a Sustainable Infrastructure Agenda}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2020}, month = sep, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/ferrograo-weaknesses-and-lessons-learned-in-implementing-a-sustainable-infrastructure-agenda/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }