Brazil suspended the paving and reconstruction of the northern BR-319 highway, which would drive up deforestation and make it impossible for Brazil to meet its climate targets by 2050, according to the environment ministry.
Reconstructing the highway would increased deforestation and generate 8bn metric tonnes (t) of CO2 by 2050, according to the environment ministry. This would run counter to Brazil's efforts to eliminate deforestation — both legal and illegal — by 2030, to meet its emissions reductions targets under the Paris climate agreement.
A federal court decision from October 2024 allowed plans by former-president Jair Bolsonaro's administration to rebuild and pave BR-319 to move forward through a preliminary license. The federal court reassessed the case on 2 July, suspending the preliminary license for the second time. The first suspension dates back to July 2024, when a federal environmental court stopped the work under an argument of irreversible risks to the Amazon forest if the concession remained active.
The 918km BR-319 connects the capitals of northern Amazonas and Rondonia states, Manaus and Porto Velho, both in the Amazon forest biome. While the preliminary license was in force, deforestation around the highway more than doubled, including in conservation areas, Brazilian climate network Observatorio do Clima said.
An increase in deforestation could cut water supply to large cities in the center-south and reduce agriculture and cattle raising by interfering in the rainfall pattern, according to the ministry. It also added that 95pc of Amazon's deforestation happens within 5.5km of highways.
Brazil's environmental watchdog Ibama has strengthened its monitoring in the BR-319 to prevent deforestation and other illegal practices in the surrounded areas. Ibama agents have seized tractors and power generators near Tapaua city, in Amazonas, which were used to support illegal activities in the Amazon forest, such as wood extraction.
Ibama also applied R8mn ($1.46mn) in environmental fines and blocked access to 1,600 hectares (ha) of deforested areas to fight ongoing illegal activities, it said today.

