The constitutional guarantee of the environment under the Bill 191/2020

Abstract

The 1988 Constitutional Charter listed several aspects of extreme social value, to guarantee and implement the best possible application of equal rights to society. In article 231, rights to indigenous peoples were recognized, such as their organization, customs, languages, and lands, while the Union was obliged to safeguard them. This article discusses Bill 191/2020, which aims to allow mining of mineral and hydrocarbon resources, as well as the use of water resources for the generation of electricity in indigenous lands by the Union. In theory, this permissiveness would conflict with the constitutional protection of the environment and indigenous peoples. This is an exploratory-descriptive research with a qualitative approach, making use of employed, bibliographic and documentary methodology - since it uses doctrinal works and scientific articles, in addition to various legal instruments, such as the Federal Constitution, the Statute of the Indian 1973, Decree-Law No. 1,775 of 1996 and Convention No. 169 of 1989 - with primarily qualitative bias. In the end, it is concluded that the changes intended by PL 191/2020 conflict with the protection of the environment established by the Federal Constitution of 1988, which aim to guarantee protection, not only the land, but the culture and diversity of indigenous peoples.