GOVERNANCE, AREA OF INFLUENCE, AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS OF TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS: CASE STUDIES IN THE STATE OF PARÁ

This case study by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI/PUC-Rio) analyzes the governance, areas of influence, and environmental risks associated with four federal transport infrastructure projects in the state of Pará: Ferrogrão, BR-155/158, BR-163/230/MT/PA, and BR-230. Using a 'market access approach' to quantify deforestation risks, the study finds that these projects collectively threaten nearly 7,000 square kilometers of native Amazon vegetation, with over half of that impact occurring in Pará. The report highlights significant transparency issues regarding project documentation and argues that the state government should engage in earlier dialogue with the federal government to incorporate mitigation costs and deforestation control into project designs.

• Four federal infrastructure projects—Ferrogrão, BR-155/158, BR-163/230/MT/PA, and BR-230—are projected to put nearly 7,000 square kilometers of native Amazon vegetation at risk, with 3,800 square kilometers located within the state of Pará. To mitigate this deforestation and improve land governance, an annual investment increase of US$ 43 million is required, of which US$ 23 million should be allocated to Pará.
• The BR-155/158 highway concession project, spanning approximately 1,135 kilometers, is estimated to cause a loss of 1,774 square kilometers of forest over 30 years, with 1,383 square kilometers in Pará. This represents a carbon loss of approximately US$ 2.6 billion, though mitigation costs are estimated at US$ 10.8 million annually (US$ 8.5 million in Pará) based on a rate of US$ 5/tCOe.
• The Ferrogrão railroad project, approximately 933 kilometers long, is projected to result in the loss of 1,273 square kilometers of forest over 30 years, including 254 square kilometers in Pará. The associated carbon loss is estimated at US$ 1.86 billion, with annual mitigation costs estimated at US$ 7.74 million (US$ 1.55 million in Pará).
• The BR-163/230/MT/PA highway concession, covering about 725 kilometers, poses the highest deforestation risk among the studied projects, with a projected loss of 3,670 square kilometers over 30 years, 1,857 square kilometers of which are in Pará. This corresponds to a carbon loss of US$ 5.36 billion and an annual mitigation cost of US$ 22.4 million (US$ 11.4 million in Pará).
• The paving of a 500-kilometer segment of BR-230 between Medicilândia and Campo Verde is estimated to cause a loss of 272 square kilometers of forest over 30 years, with a carbon loss of US$ 400 million and an annual mitigation cost of US$ 1.7 million.
• CPI/PUC-Rio identified a systemic transparency problem in federal infrastructure projects, noting that socio-environmental studies and documents were often unavailable on government websites (such as those of the PPI, EPL, and ANTT) or required requests via the Information Access Law (LAI) to be obtained.
• The study found that federal infrastructure projects often do not follow a logical chronological order in their life cycle stages. For example, the Ferrogrão project's planning process did not strictly follow the standard flowchart, although the authors note that applicable norms do not mandate a specific chronological order.

APA

BRAGANÇA, A., ANTONACCIO, L., PRALLON, B., ARAÚJO, R., BARROS, A. C., & CHIAVARI, J. (2021). GOVERNANCE, AREA OF INFLUENCE, AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS OF TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS: CASE STUDIES IN THE STATE OF PARÁ. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Estudos-de-Caso-EN-1.pdf

Chicago

BRAGANÇA, ARTHUR, LUIZA ANTONACCIO, BRENDA PRALLON, RAFAEL ARAÚJO, ANA CRISTINA BARROS, and JOANA CHIAVARI. GOVERNANCE, AREA OF INFLUENCE, AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS OF TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS: CASE STUDIES IN THE STATE OF PARÁ. Climate Policy Initiative, 2021. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Estudos-de-Caso-EN-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=BRAGANÇA |first1=ARTHUR |last2=ANTONACCIO |first2=LUIZA |last3=PRALLON |first3=BRENDA |last4=ARAÚJO |first4=RAFAEL |last5=BARROS |first5=ANA CRISTINA |last6=CHIAVARI |first6=JOANA |title=GOVERNANCE, AREA OF INFLUENCE, AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS OF TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS: CASE STUDIES IN THE STATE OF PARÁ |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=September 2021 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Estudos-de-Caso-EN-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bragana2021governance, author = {BRAGANÇA, ARTHUR and ANTONACCIO, LUIZA and PRALLON, BRENDA and ARAÚJO, RAFAEL and BARROS, ANA CRISTINA and CHIAVARI, JOANA}, title = {{GOVERNANCE, AREA OF INFLUENCE, AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS OF TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS: CASE STUDIES IN THE STATE OF PARÁ}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2021}, month = sep, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Estudos-de-Caso-EN-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }