Organized by the FAU Research Center for Human Rights Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU CHREN), our inter- and transdisciplinary Human Rights Colloquium brings together scholars and practitioners to discuss pressing issues in human rights research and practice. Events are invitation-only and organized on a rolling basis. On 8 July 2025, Professor Octávio Luiz Motta Ferraz of King’s College London, spoke on the topic of “Law, Democracy and the Battle to save the Amazon.” His talk was chaired by Omri Levin and Dr Tainá Garcia Maia acted as discussant.
Event recap
In the latest edition of the FAU CHREN Human Rights Colloquium, Prof. Octavio Ferraz spoke on „Law, Democracy and the Battle to Save the Amazon“.
Professor Octavio Ferraz’s talk described the vast damage caused to the Amazon by deforestation, driven by agribusiness and mining as well as by fires and droughts caused by climate change. He noted how deforestation increased under Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro, and showed how the Bolsonaro government used legal mechanisms to allow this to happen while dismantling environmental protection laws. While current president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s administration is doing significantly better in this regard, there are still challenges to environmental protection in Brazil posed by local politicians who are funded by agribusiness or the congress, dominated by right wing and centre-right parties.
The discussant, Dr. Tainá Garcia Maia, raised questions regarding the connection between democracy and the vast damage to the Amazon, as democracy itself is responsible for the rise of Bolsonaro and other politicians who are responsible for the weakening of environmental protection laws. Other participants asked Professor Octavio Ferraz, for example, about the role of multilateralism in the protection of the Amazon and about the attitude of the local population.
Context: Amazon region under threat
The Brazilian Amazon (nearly 60% of the whole forest) and its traditional peoples (indigenous groups, riverine communities and communities of former enslaved peoples) are under unprecedented pressure. Cattle farming, soy, logging and mining have already destroyed about one fifth of the forest in the past few decades and affected the lives and livelihoods of thousands of humans who have traditionally lived in harmony with the forest. If destruction continues, many scientists believe the biome may reach a tipping point, with large swathes of former tropical forest turning into a savannah. That would be catastrophic not only for the traditional peoples, to Brazil and the region, given the forest’s important role in regulating rainfall and the local climate, but also for the world as a whole, in particular due to the loss of one of the most important hotspots of biodiversity in the planet.
About Prof. Octávio Ferraz
(from left to right) Prof. Octávio Ferraz, Omri Levin, Dr. Tainá Garcia Maia, Prof. Dr. Markus Krajewski (Bild: FAU/Omri Levin).
Professor Octavio Ferraz is a Professor of Law at King’s College London. Before joining King’s he was a senior research officer to the UN special rapporteur for the right to health, Professor Paul Hunt, at the University of Essex, and then moved to Warwick Law School, where he was an Assistant and then an Associate Professor for 8 years.
Before moving to academia, he practiced law in Sao Paulo, Brazil, mostly in the fields of corporate public law and medical law for over ten years. He is still a member of the Brazilian Bar and contributes regularly to the Brazilian press.
Professor Ferraz’s research interests are in the field of human rights and development, especially the role and impact of law and courts in poverty, equality and social justice. He adopts mostly comparative, transnational and international perspectives, and an interdisciplinary approach, engaging with political philosophy, economics, sociology and political sciences and combining empirical methods and theoretical inquiry in his projects.
About the FAU CHREN Human Rights Colloquium
The series provides a space for scholarly exchange on current human rights issues. Colloquia are organised on a rolling basis and are co-convened by Dr Janina Heaphy and Professor Eva Pils. This session was chaired by Omri Levin.
Enquiries should be directed to the co-conveners or to humanrights@fau.de.
The visit of Professor Octávio Luiz Motta Ferraz was made possible with the support of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
Organized by the FAU Research Center for Human Rights Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU CHREN), our inter- and transdisciplinary Human Rights Colloquium brings together scholars and practitioners to discuss pressing issues in human rights research and practice. Events are invitation-only and organized on a rolling basis. On 8 July 2025, Professor Octávio Luiz Motta Ferraz of King’s College London, spoke on the topic of “Law, Democracy and the Battle to save the Amazon.” His talk was chaired by Omri Levin and Dr Tainá Garcia Maia acted as discussant.
Event recap
In the latest edition of the FAU CHREN Human Rights Colloquium, Prof. Octavio Ferraz spoke on „Law, Democracy and the Battle to Save the Amazon“.
Professor Octavio Ferraz’s talk described the vast damage caused to the Amazon by deforestation, driven by agribusiness and mining as well as by fires and droughts caused by climate change. He noted how deforestation increased under Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro, and showed how the Bolsonaro government used legal mechanisms to allow this to happen while dismantling environmental protection laws. While current president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s administration is doing significantly better in this regard, there are still challenges to environmental protection in Brazil posed by local politicians who are funded by agribusiness or the congress, dominated by right wing and centre-right parties.
The discussant, Dr. Tainá Garcia Maia, raised questions regarding the connection between democracy and the vast damage to the Amazon, as democracy itself is responsible for the rise of Bolsonaro and other politicians who are responsible for the weakening of environmental protection laws. Other participants asked Professor Octavio Ferraz, for example, about the role of multilateralism in the protection of the Amazon and about the attitude of the local population.
Context: Amazon region under threat
The Brazilian Amazon (nearly 60% of the whole forest) and its traditional peoples (indigenous groups, riverine communities and communities of former enslaved peoples) are under unprecedented pressure. Cattle farming, soy, logging and mining have already destroyed about one fifth of the forest in the past few decades and affected the lives and livelihoods of thousands of humans who have traditionally lived in harmony with the forest. If destruction continues, many scientists believe the biome may reach a tipping point, with large swathes of former tropical forest turning into a savannah. That would be catastrophic not only for the traditional peoples, to Brazil and the region, given the forest’s important role in regulating rainfall and the local climate, but also for the world as a whole, in particular due to the loss of one of the most important hotspots of biodiversity in the planet.
About Prof. Octávio Ferraz
Professor Octavio Ferraz is a Professor of Law at King’s College London. Before joining King’s he was a senior research officer to the UN special rapporteur for the right to health, Professor Paul Hunt, at the University of Essex, and then moved to Warwick Law School, where he was an Assistant and then an Associate Professor for 8 years.
Before moving to academia, he practiced law in Sao Paulo, Brazil, mostly in the fields of corporate public law and medical law for over ten years. He is still a member of the Brazilian Bar and contributes regularly to the Brazilian press.
Professor Ferraz’s research interests are in the field of human rights and development, especially the role and impact of law and courts in poverty, equality and social justice. He adopts mostly comparative, transnational and international perspectives, and an interdisciplinary approach, engaging with political philosophy, economics, sociology and political sciences and combining empirical methods and theoretical inquiry in his projects.
About the FAU CHREN Human Rights Colloquium
The series provides a space for scholarly exchange on current human rights issues. Colloquia are organised on a rolling basis and are co-convened by Dr Janina Heaphy and Professor Eva Pils. This session was chaired by Omri Levin.
Enquiries should be directed to the co-conveners or to humanrights@fau.de.
The visit of Professor Octávio Luiz Motta Ferraz was made possible with the support of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.