INSEGURANÇA DOS DIREITOS DE PROPRIEDADE NO BRASIL

The report argues that Brazil lags globally in property rights protection, leading to severe consequences including land-related violence, deforestation, and inefficient land use. It highlights a systemic failure in land governance characterized by institutional complexity, unreliable registration systems, and the absence of an integrated database for public and private lands. The document specifically notes that insecurity encourages deforestation as a means to prove land productivity to avoid expropriation and suppresses the land rental market due to legal and social distrust.

• Brazil ranks poorly in international property rights assessments, placing 64th in the 2015 International Property Rights Index (IIDP) and 95th in the property rights component of the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Index.
• Land insecurity is a primary driver of violence and conflict; between 1994 and 2014, there were 723 homicides related to land disputes, with the state of Pará recording the highest number of such killings in 2014.
• The land rental market in Brazil is severely underdeveloped compared to global standards, with a rental rate of approximately 3.3%, whereas rates in Europe and the United States are around 33% and 38% respectively.
• Property rights insecurity incentivizes deforestation because cleared land is often used as evidence of productivity to prevent expropriation for land reform, and a 10% decrease in insecurity is estimated to reduce annual deforestation rates by 7% in the Amazon.
• Insecurity distorts agricultural investment and crop choices; farmers in high-conflict areas tend to reduce high-investment temporary crops like soy and increase low-investment permanent crops to avoid signaling land underutilization.
• There is extreme productivity inequality in Brazilian agriculture, where less than 1% of rural properties generate more than half of the total gross agricultural income, while 66% of properties produce only 3% of that income.
• The Brazilian land governance system is hindered by institutional complexity involving 11 different federal institutions, unreliable land registries where less than 50% of rural properties in Pará and Piauí are formally registered, and the widespread practice of 'grilagem' (land grabbing via forged documents).
• Brazil lacks an integrated database for public and private lands, which is critical given that over 20% of the national territory consists of 'terras devolutas' (unassigned public lands), reaching over 40% in the state of Amazonas.

APA

Costa, R. D. (2016). INSEGURANÇA DOS DIREITOS DE PROPRIEDADE NO BRASIL. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Inseguranca_nos_Direitos_de_Propriedade_no_Brasil_CPI.pdf

Chicago

Costa, Rita Damasceno. INSEGURANÇA DOS DIREITOS DE PROPRIEDADE NO BRASIL. Climate Policy Initiative, 2016. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Inseguranca_nos_Direitos_de_Propriedade_no_Brasil_CPI.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Costa |first1=Rita Damasceno |title=INSEGURANÇA DOS DIREITOS DE PROPRIEDADE NO BRASIL |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=August 2016 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Inseguranca_nos_Direitos_de_Propriedade_no_Brasil_CPI.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{costa2016insegurana, author = {Costa, Rita Damasceno}, title = {{INSEGURANÇA DOS DIREITOS DE PROPRIEDADE NO BRASIL}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2016}, month = aug, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Inseguranca_nos_Direitos_de_Propriedade_no_Brasil_CPI.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }