Visit to Brazil, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes enforceable deadlines to phase out chemicals based on their intrinsic hazards, and that Brazil neither uses nor exports chemicals prohibited from use by OECD members. IV. Protecting the most vulnerable 41. The principles of equality and non-discrimination are central to realizing human rights implicated by toxic exposures, taking into account circumstances of vulnerability. Yet, various examples exist where Brazil is not upholding these rights without discrimination. Brazil has an obligation, and has reaffirmed its commitment, to prioritise the protection of people in situations of vulnerability.73 Human rights violations most often befall those who have faced discrimination historically.74 Toxic exposure is no exception, with cross-sectional impacts and factors including race, income, occupation, age, and gender, contributing to differentiated implications on individuals and communities. In 2018, people of colour in Brazil represented 72.7% of the poor, with 27.2 million of these 38.1 million people being women. 75 While the National Council for Human Rights could play an important role in addressing environmental injustice, it inadequately does so, perhaps in part because half of the 22 members are Government representatives. 76 42. Indigenous, Afro-Brazilian and low-income communities 43. Numbering over 13,000 communities, indigenous, quilombola and other AfroBrazilian, communities are often the most exposed to toxic pollution, further accentuating their already precarious situations. There is a strong intersection with poverty, and lowincome communities in urban centres are also implicated. 44. The situation of indigenous peoples, Afro-Brazilians and the poor in Brazil is deteriorating rapidly due to changes in laws and policies to favour private interests, dismantling of key institutions, the absence of meaningful enforcement, and the rejection of the letter and spirit of human rights by the leadership in Brazil. For example, the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) is operating with only 10% of its budget, therefore struggling to protect rights of indigenous peoples.77 Bodies have been eliminated altogether, such as the National Council of Indian Policy (CNPI) tasked with promoting effective participation of indigenous peoples in decision-making. 78 Recurrent proposals to legalise mining, hydroelectric projects and other business activities in the Amazon and elsewhere, 79 raise legitimate concerns of disregard of the right to free prior and informed consent (FPIC). 45. Indigenous peoples’ close connection with nature places them at increased danger of toxic exposure including pressure from industrial expansion, agriculture, extractive industries, urban growth, and waste dumping.80 Indigenous peoples and traditional communities dependent on the Doce River suffered tremendously from the Mariana dam 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 10 Brazil Government, para 8 https://www.universal-rights.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/NV-199-19Brazils-Voluntary-Pledges-and-Commitments.pdf. IACHR (2018) https://www.oas.org/es/cidh/prensa/comunicados/2018/238OPeng.pdf . IBGE (11 June 2019) https://agenciadenoticias.ibge.gov.br/agencia-noticias/2012-agencia-denoticias/noticias/25882-extrema-pobreza-atinge-13-5-milhoes-de-pessoas-e-chega-ao-maior-nivelem-7-anos. Pogrebinschi, Thamy (2017) https://www.latinno.net/en/case/3105/. Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) (2017) https://cimi.org.br/wpcontent/uploads/2018/12/Report-Violence-against-the-Indigenous-Peoples-in-Brazil_2017-Cimi.pdf ; Brazil Chamber of Deputies (2019). Brazil Chamber of Deputies (2019). HRW (1 March 2020) https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/03/01/bolsonaros-plan-legalize-crimesagainst-indigenous-peoples; Amazon Watch (6 February 2020) https://amazonwatch.org/news/2020/0206-illegal-bill-to-permit-mining-on-indigenous-territoriesproposed-by-bolsonaro. Álvaro Fernández‐Llamazares et al (2020 May) doi: 10.1002/ieam.4239; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7187223/.