Environmental Viability of Land Transport Infrastructure in the Amazon

This policy brief by Climate Policy Initiative/Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (CPI/PUC-Rio) analyzes the viability phase of 14 large-scale federal land transport infrastructure projects in the Legal Amazon. The analysis identifies significant procedural gaps, a lack of logical sequencing between environmental studies, and a systemic lack of transparency regarding project documentation, which increases environmental risks and investor uncertainty.

• The viability phase for federal railroad and highway concessions lacks clear procedural rules, leading to uncertainty regarding the order of stages in a project's life cycle.
• There is no regulatory requirement for Technical, Economic and Environmental Viability Studies (EVTEA) to precede Environmental Impact Studies (EIA), nor is there a required logical correlation between them. This allows for cases where Preliminary Licenses (LP)—which are based on EIAs—are issued before the EVTEA is completed, undermining the ability to assess socio-environmental risks early in the process.
• Transparency in the viability phase is severely limited, with 57% of essential documents and information for the 14 analyzed infrastructure segments being unavailable or missing. This includes a lack of access to EVTEA approval documents and the criteria used for such approvals.
• Information regarding concessions is often fragmented and contradictory across different government entities. For example, the Investment Partnerships Program (PPI) and VALEC provide conflicting information on the starting point of the FICO railroad segment.
• CPI/PUC-Rio recommends making it mandatory for EVTEA to be conducted before the EIA to ensure socio-environmental risks are addressed at the earliest stage, thereby reducing the likelihood of project abandonment or interruptions.
• The authors recommend the creation of a centralized database for all documents and information related to federal railroad and highway concessions to improve monitoring and risk assessment.

APA

Cozendey, G., & Chiavari, J. (2021). Environmental Viability of Land Transport Infrastructure in the Amazon. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/PB-Environmental-Viability.pdf

Chicago

Cozendey, Gabriel, and Joana Chiavari. Environmental Viability of Land Transport Infrastructure in the Amazon. Climate Policy Initiative, 2021. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/PB-Environmental-Viability.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Cozendey |first1=Gabriel |last2=Chiavari |first2=Joana |title=Environmental Viability of Land Transport Infrastructure in the Amazon |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=June 2021 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/PB-Environmental-Viability.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cozendey2021environmental, author = {Cozendey, Gabriel and Chiavari, Joana}, title = {{Environmental Viability of Land Transport Infrastructure in the Amazon}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2021}, month = jun, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/PB-Environmental-Viability.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }