A proibição do amianto no Brasil e os desafios jurídico-ambientais do futuro : perspectivas de governança em âmbito nacional e global

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to study the process of legal discussions before and after the ban on all types of asbestos in Brazil, on November 29, 2017, by the Federal Supreme Court. However, there are other points that address the issue of asbestos use that are analyzed in this study. What happens is that, although the extraction, industrialization and commercialization of this mineral is prohibited, the use that has been made of it still constitutes a serious environmental problem, since the products that were produced with this raw material and sold for decades, are found mainly in the urban environment. Depending on how they are handled, asbestos fibers can come loose in the air, contaminating it. This contamination can endanger the health of the population that inhales such fibers, as the dangerousness of this mineral is already duly documented in scientific studies, which prove the causal link between the aspiration of fibers of any type of asbestos and several pathologies, malignant or not. Thus, in the light of Human Rights - prioritizing the healthy environment, public health and life -, it is necessary to face these risks. And for that, we bet on governance, as a skillful instrument to deal with the complexity of the risk situation, as it has already become evident that the command and control rules that govern the handling and final disposal of these products are not enough. Likewise, as the reflections in this dissertation are based on Human Rights, it is necessary to think about those people who are in territories where asbestos is still allowed. In this case, it is believed that global governance is also the appropriate instrument to consider an international regime for a future global ban on asbestos. In addition, there is a robust set of scientific documents from epistemic communities, soft law, which prescribe the global ban on asbestos as the only way to end asbestos-related diseases. Regarding the methodology, the research is bibliographical and documental, with exploratory and descriptive studies. The approach is qualitative resorting of the deductive method.