Uma análise acerca da responsabilização civil ambiental e da judicialização transnacional de demandas ambientais à luz do Caso Norsk Hydro

Abstract

This study analyzes the legal mechanisms of civil liability for socio-environmental damages caused by transnational companies, using as a case study the Hydro Alunorte disaster in Barcarena, Pará, Brazil, in 2018. The event, marked by the overflow of the refinery’s waste basins, released toxic red mud that affected riverside, Indigenous, and quilombola communities, generating deep environmental, social, and cultural impacts. The research examines the role of Brazilian public institutions, such as the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Public Defender’s Office, in defending the affected populations, as well as the structural limitations they face, including judicial slowness, evidentiary challenges, and asymmetries between corporations and communities. A key highlight of the work is the analysis of the internationalization of the claim, with the filing of a lawsuit at the Rotterdam District Court (Netherlands) against the parent company Norsk Hydro, exploring the legal grounds of extraterritorial jurisdiction and the challenges of transnational effectiveness. The methodology used is qualitative, based on bibliographic and documentary research and case law analysis, articulated through a dialectical approach that considers the legal, social, political, and economic dimensions of the problem. The study also addresses key principles of environmental law, such as prevention, precaution, polluter pays, and the prohibition of environmental regression, as well as the strict liability regime that strengthens environmental protection in Brazil. Finally, the work reflects on the transformative potential of transnational precedents to strengthen a new global environmental governance capable of addressing socio-environmental injustices and ensuring effective reparation for affected populations.