Transnational law and legal pluralism in the Amazon: a legal response to combat forest devastation

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30612/videre.v18i37.20843

Keywords:

Transnational law, Legal pluralism, Environmental governance, Forest fires, Amazon

Abstract

This article aims to analyze transnational law and legal pluralism in the Amazon as legal responses to environmental preservation. The central objective is to investigate how regional cooperation, especially through the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), can be articulated with the principles of transnational law to strengthen effective environmental governance in combating forest fires. Initially, a conceptual notion of transnationality and transnational legal pluralism is presented, highlighting their relevance in the face of the growing complexity of global environmental problems. Then, the application of these frameworks to the Amazonian reality, marked by challenges that transcend national borders, is discussed. The research, based on national and international theoretical contributions, demonstrates that the socio-environmental crisis and forest devastation require cooperative, integrated, and transnational solutions, with the reconfiguration of legal instruments and the strengthening of institutional mechanisms aimed at environmental governance in the region.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Jimmy Martins Shimizu, Federal University of Amazonas

Mestrando do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Direito (PPGDir) da Universidade Federal do Amazonas. Área de Concentração em Constitucionalismo e Direitos na Amazônia.

Rodrigo Damasceno Monte, Federal University of Amazonas

Mestrando do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Direito (PPGDir) da Universidade Federal do Amazonas. Área de Concentração em Constitucionalismo e Direitos na Amazônia.

Mônica Nazaré Picanço Dias, Federal University of Amazonas

Doutora em Ciência Jurídica UNIVALI/SC (2013). Mestre em Direito Ambiental pela Universidade do Estado do Amazonas (2008). Especialização em Direito Penal e Direito Processual Penal (2001) e Graduação em Direito pela Universidade Federal do Amazonas (1997). Atua principalmente nos seguintes temas: Justiça Ambiental, Desenvolvimento Sustentável, Criminologia e Transnacionalidade. Professora de Direito Penal e Direito Processual Penal da Universidade Federal do Amazonas.

References

BECK, Ulrich. Sociedade de risco: rumo a uma outra modernidade. Tradução de Sebastião Nascimento. 2. ed. São Paulo: Editora 34, 2011. Inclui uma entrevista inédita com o autor.

CONCA, Ken. The rise of the region in global environmental politics. Global Environmental Politics, v. 12, n. 3, p. 127–133, 2012. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1162/GLEP_a_00132

CRUZ, Paulo Márcio; BODNAR, Zélia. A transnacionalidade e a emergência do Estado e do direito transnacionais. In: CRUZ, Paulo Márcio; STELZER, Joana (orgs.). Direito e transnacionalidade. Curitiba: Juruá, 2010. p. 159-169. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5380/cejur.v1i4.15054

CUMBRE PRESIDENCIAL DE LA AMAZONÍA. Pacto de Leticia por la Amazonía. Leticia, 2021.

GARCIA, Beatriz. The Amazon from an international law perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. p. 75–84.

LANT, Christopher; RUHL, J. B.; KRAFT, Steven. The tragedy of ecosystem services. BioScience, v. 58, n. 10, p. 969–974, 2008. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1641/B581010

NEUMAN, Scott. Macron urges G-7 members to put Amazon fires at top of agenda. NPR (National Public Radio), 23 ago. 2019. Disponível em: https://www.npr.org/2019/08/23/753639869/macron-urges-g7-members-to-put-amazon-fires-at-top-of-agenda. Acesso em: 21 abr. 2026.

OSTROM, Elinor. Polycentric systems for coping with collective action and global environmental change. Global Environmental Change, v. 20, n. 4, p. 550–557, 2010. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2010.07.004

PAES, Lucas de Oliveira. Networked territoriality: a processual–relational view on the making (and makings) of regions in world politics. Review of International Studies, p. 1–30, 2022. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0260210522000249. Acesso em: 4 nov. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0260210522000249

PAES, Lucas de Oliveira. The Amazon rainforest and the global–regional politics of ecosystem governance. International Affairs, v. 98, n. 6, p. 2077–2097, nov. 2022. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiac229. Acesso em: 4 nov. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiac229

PEREIRA, Joana; VIOLA, Eduardo. Catastrophic climate change and forest tipping points: blind spots in international politics and policy. Global Policy, v. 9, n. 4, p. 513–524, 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12578

PIFFER, Carla; CRUZ, Paulo Márcio. O direito transnacional e a consolidação de um pluralismo jurídico transnacional. Revista Direitos Fundamentais & Democracia, v. 24, n. 2, p. 110–124, 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.46699/rduno.v2i3.5068

ROWE, Elana Wilson. Ecosystemic politics: analyzing the consequences of speaking for adjacent nature on the global stage. Political Geography, v. 91, p. 1–10, 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2021.102497

SPRING, Jake. Brazil's Bolsonaro slams Biden for “coward threats” over Amazon. Reuters, 30 set. 2020. Disponível em: https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/brazils-bolsonaro-slams-biden-coward-threats-over-amazon-2020-09-30/. Acesso em: 21 abr. 2026.

STELZER, Joana. O fenômeno da transnacionalização da dimensão jurídica. In: CRUZ, Paulo Márcio; STELZER, Joana (orgs.). Direito e transnacionalidade. Curitiba: Juruá, 2009. p. 23-36.

TIGRE, Maria Antonia. Cooperation for climate mitigation in Amazonia: Brazil’s emerging role as a regional leader. Transnational Environmental Law, v. 5, n. 2, p. 401–425, 2016. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S2047102516000297

VIOLA, Eduardo; FRANCHINI, Matías. Brazil and climate change: beyond the Amazon. Abingdon: Routledge, 2017. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315101651

Downloads

Published

2025-12-15

How to Cite

Shimizu, J. M., Monte, R. D., & Dias, M. N. P. (2025). Transnational law and legal pluralism in the Amazon: a legal response to combat forest devastation. Revista Videre, 18(37), 200–216. https://doi.org/10.30612/videre.v18i37.20843

Issue

Vol. 18 No. 37 (2025): Revista Videre

Section

Scientific Articles

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Authors must accept the publication rules when submitting the journal, as well as agree to the following terms:

(a) The Editorial Board reserves the right to make changes to the Portuguese language in the originals to maintain the cultured standard of the language, while respecting the style of the authors.

(b) Authors retain the copyright and grant the journal the right to first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Brazil (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 BR) that allows: Share - copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and Adapt - remix, transform, and create from the material. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 BR considers the following terms:

  1. Attribution - You must give the appropriate credit, provide a link to the license and indicate whether changes have been made. You must do so under any reasonable circumstances, but in no way that would suggest that the licensor supports you or your use.
  2. NonCommercial - You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
  3. Sharing - If you remix, transform, or create from material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.
  4. No additional restrictions - You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything that the license permits.

(c) After publication, authors are allowed and encouraged to publish and distribute their work online - in institutional repositories, personal page, social network or other scientific dissemination sites, as long as the publication is not for commercial purposes.