Fraport AG, the owner of Frankfurt Airport (FRA), is facing a €16 million environmental lawsuit for clearing forests in Brazil. The owners had cleared the forest area to build a logistics warehouse.
Why is there an environmental lawsuit for the Frankfurt Airport owner?
The lawsuit stated “irregularities and illegalities” in the development made in the area of land located around Fortaleza International Airport (FOR) in Brazil.
Fortaleza Airport is owned by Fraport Brasil, which is a part of Fraport AG. So, the owner of Frankfurt Airport has been accused of deforestation around the Fortaleza Airport.
Fortaleza city councillor Gabriel Biologia filed a class action environmental lawsuit against the owner of the Frankfurt Airport on Wednesday March 18. In the lawsuit, they mentioned that they are seeking compensation of 100 million Brazilian reais.
“Our action aims to ensure the forest’s recovery and hold those who allowed this damage to occur to account,” said Biologia.
Gabriel argues that this is not the case of unauthorised construction and adds that this could be the “biggest environmental crime” the city of Fortaleza has seen in a decade.
What does the lawsuit say?
According to the lawsuit, the logistics warehouse construction project violates the plan that was originally in the concession process conducted by the Agencia Nacional de Aviacao Civil (ANAC), the Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil. The lawsuit mentioned that the plan contains “serious flaws in the environmental licensing process”.
It also claims that public bodies have been guilty of environmental crime, as they allowed the deforestation of the Atlantic Forest, which causes damage to the wildlife habitat and neighbouring communities.
The complaint also added that more than 60 acres of the Atlantic Forest have been destroyed to construct the logistics warehouse. The Atlantic Forest is among the world’s top biodiversity hot spots and is the habitat of 14% of the Earth’s total plant species.
This case is now waiting for review by the judiciary at the 7th Federal Court of Ceará, Brazil.
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