Concerns on the marine environment were the ratione materiae of the 1981
National Policy for the Environment (PNMA),
39 which aims to preserve, improve
and recover the environmental quality conducive to life, in accordance with the
principle of rationalization of land, subsoil, water and air use. In the Policy’s text,
ports and marinas, as well as the transportation and commercialization of dangerous
cargoes, oil, gas and derivates are classified as activities with a high risk of
environmental pollution—thus demanding particular attention from all involved
stakeholders.
40 Even though the Policy did not explicitly prescribe principles or
practices to the oceans, but solely to the environmental in general (a broader concept
which undoubtedly comprises the seas), it represented an important, albeit not the
first, step in the arduous path towards environmentally sound and sustainable
activities. Importantly, the Environmental Policy created National Council for the
Environment (CONAMA), a proactive governmental agency that regulates the uses
of the oceans.
The 1981 PNMA certainly is pertinent to the management and conservation of the
marine environment. Yet, the most relevant document for that end is a national
policy approved before both the Maritime and the Environmental Policy. As early as
1980, a year before the adoption of the Environmental Policy, Brazil approved its
first National Policy for Marine Resources (PNRM), which underwent a thorough
update in 2005 under the Lula da Silva presidency, in order to face the considerable
modifications witnessed by the international community since the early 1980s.
41 The
“new” policy for marine resources reiterated several principles, key pillars and
objectives of its predecessor, thus aiming at governing the development of maritime
activities focused on the effective use, exploration and exploitation of living, mineral
and energy resources of the Brazilian maritime spaces, in a rational and sustainable
way, in accordance with national interests and towards the socioeconomic development of the country.
42
The 2005 PNRM is fundamentally informed by the 1994 PMN and the 1981
PNMA, although it consists itself of an umbrella framework with principles and
objectives that influence the preparation of further government plans, programs and
actions—keep the “complex web” of policies description in mind. Among these
principles, some have a direct connection to marine environmental governance,
namely: resort to the precautionary principle in the exploitation of marine resources;
the protection and conservation of biodiversity and genetic heritage in marine areas
under national jurisdiction; and, lastly, the respect for the internationally accepted
39 Act no. 6.938/1981.
40 Annex VIII to Act 6.938/81, incorporated by Act no. 10,165, 27 December 2000, on potentially
polluting activities.
41 Taking into account the historical moment when this policy entered into force, the 1980s, it can be
considered a valuable mechanism for the protection of the Brazilian coastal area. “major advance in
terms of standardization of multiple uses of the coastal and marine zone of Brazil”. See Marroni
(2014), p. 165.
42 Art. 2, on the objectives of the PNRM, Decree no. 5.377/2005.
9.1 Marine Environmental Governance in Brazil: Policies and Institutions
257
National Policy for the Environment (PNMA),
39 which aims to preserve, improve
and recover the environmental quality conducive to life, in accordance with the
principle of rationalization of land, subsoil, water and air use. In the Policy’s text,
ports and marinas, as well as the transportation and commercialization of dangerous
cargoes, oil, gas and derivates are classified as activities with a high risk of
environmental pollution—thus demanding particular attention from all involved
stakeholders.
40 Even though the Policy did not explicitly prescribe principles or
practices to the oceans, but solely to the environmental in general (a broader concept
which undoubtedly comprises the seas), it represented an important, albeit not the
first, step in the arduous path towards environmentally sound and sustainable
activities. Importantly, the Environmental Policy created National Council for the
Environment (CONAMA), a proactive governmental agency that regulates the uses
of the oceans.
The 1981 PNMA certainly is pertinent to the management and conservation of the
marine environment. Yet, the most relevant document for that end is a national
policy approved before both the Maritime and the Environmental Policy. As early as
1980, a year before the adoption of the Environmental Policy, Brazil approved its
first National Policy for Marine Resources (PNRM), which underwent a thorough
update in 2005 under the Lula da Silva presidency, in order to face the considerable
modifications witnessed by the international community since the early 1980s.
41 The
“new” policy for marine resources reiterated several principles, key pillars and
objectives of its predecessor, thus aiming at governing the development of maritime
activities focused on the effective use, exploration and exploitation of living, mineral
and energy resources of the Brazilian maritime spaces, in a rational and sustainable
way, in accordance with national interests and towards the socioeconomic development of the country.
42
The 2005 PNRM is fundamentally informed by the 1994 PMN and the 1981
PNMA, although it consists itself of an umbrella framework with principles and
objectives that influence the preparation of further government plans, programs and
actions—keep the “complex web” of policies description in mind. Among these
principles, some have a direct connection to marine environmental governance,
namely: resort to the precautionary principle in the exploitation of marine resources;
the protection and conservation of biodiversity and genetic heritage in marine areas
under national jurisdiction; and, lastly, the respect for the internationally accepted
39 Act no. 6.938/1981.
40 Annex VIII to Act 6.938/81, incorporated by Act no. 10,165, 27 December 2000, on potentially
polluting activities.
41 Taking into account the historical moment when this policy entered into force, the 1980s, it can be
considered a valuable mechanism for the protection of the Brazilian coastal area. “major advance in
terms of standardization of multiple uses of the coastal and marine zone of Brazil”. See Marroni
(2014), p. 165.
42 Art. 2, on the objectives of the PNRM, Decree no. 5.377/2005.
9.1 Marine Environmental Governance in Brazil: Policies and Institutions
257