Decretos Presidenciais Reforçam o Descompasso na Regulação Minerária em Prejuízo ao Meio Ambiente

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI/PUC-Rio) argues that Brazilian presidential decrees from February 2022 exacerbate a regulatory gap in the mining sector, allowing gold mining cooperatives to operate as industrial entities while benefiting from lenient regulations intended for vulnerable individual miners. The authors call for the revocation of these decrees to better protect the environment and improve oversight in the Amazon.

• Presidential Decrees No. 10,965/2022 and No. 10,966/2022 increase the regulatory imbalance by simplifying permission procedures for small-scale enterprises and creating the Program for the Support of the Development of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (Pró-Mape) and the Interministerial Commission for the Development of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (Comape), with the Legal Amazon as the priority region.
• There is a significant regulatory disparity between the Permissão de Lavra Garimpeira (PLG), used by individual miners and cooperatives, and the Concessão de Lavra, used by industrial mining. A primary difference is that the PLG allows for the immediate exploitation of mineral deposits without the requirement for prior mineral research, which is mandatory for industrial concessions.
• The lack of mandatory prior mineral research for PLGs hinders the ability of authorities to assess socio-environmental impacts and combat the laundering of financial assets derived from illegal mining, as it obscures the areas requiring inspection and the intensity of the mining activity.
• Mining cooperatives in the Amazon are operating on an industrial scale, often exceeding the size of major mining companies. Data shows that seven of the ten largest gold mining areas in the Amazon are held by cooperatives, and three individual cooperatives hold larger areas than Vale S.A.
• There is a high concentration of land among cooperatives compared to industrial companies. While 51 mining companies hold approximately 334,800 hectares under Concessão de Lavra, 57 mining cooperatives hold over 790,800 hectares under Permissão de Lavra Garimpeira.
• Mining activity in the Amazon has significant negative impacts, including deforestation, violence, conflicts with traditional peoples, and mercury contamination. As of 2020, more than 70% of the country's mining area was concentrated in the Amazon region.

APA

Cozendey, G., Pereira, L., Pucci, R., & Chiavari, J. (2022). Decretos Presidenciais Reforçam o Descompasso na Regulação Minerária em Prejuízo ao Meio Ambiente. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/INS-Garimpo-PT.pdf

Chicago

Cozendey, Gabriel, Leila Pereira, Rafael Pucci, and Joana Chiavari. Decretos Presidenciais Reforçam o Descompasso na Regulação Minerária em Prejuízo ao Meio Ambiente. Climate Policy Initiative, 2022. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/INS-Garimpo-PT.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Cozendey |first1=Gabriel |last2=Pereira |first2=Leila |last3=Pucci |first3=Rafael |last4=Chiavari |first4=Joana |title=Decretos Presidenciais Reforçam o Descompasso na Regulação Minerária em Prejuízo ao Meio Ambiente |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=April 2022 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/INS-Garimpo-PT.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cozendey2022decretos, author = {Cozendey, Gabriel and Pereira, Leila and Pucci, Rafael and Chiavari, Joana}, title = {{Decretos Presidenciais Reforçam o Descompasso na Regulação Minerária em Prejuízo ao Meio Ambiente}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2022}, month = apr, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/INS-Garimpo-PT.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }