Skip Navigation
Brazil

Open Data and Active Transparency in Environment Issues (BR0098)

Overview

At-a-Glance

Action Plan: Brazil National Action Plan 2016-2018

Action Plan Cycle: 2016

Status: Inactive

Institutions

Lead Institution: Ministry of Environment

Support Institution(s): Ministry of Environment Environment National Council (Conama) Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) Brazilian Forest Service National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA) National Institute for Space Research (INPE), World Wild Fund for Nature Brazilian Coalition on Climate, Forests and Agriculture Institute of Forest and Agricultural Management and Certification (Imaflora) InfoAmazonia Institute for Man and the Environment of the Amazon Region (Imazon) Forest Code Observatory

Policy Areas

Environment and Climate, Open Data, Public Participation

IRM Review

IRM Report: Brazil Mid-Term Report 2016-2018

Starred: No

Early Results: Marginal

Design i

Verifiable: Yes

Relevant to OGP Values: Access to Information Civic Participation , Technology

Potential Impact:

Implementation i

Completion:

Description

Lead government institution Ministry of Environment Civil servant in charge for implementing at lead government institution Anderson Couto Position - Department Special Advisor for Internal Auditing/ Internal Auditing E-mail anderson.couto@mma.gov.br Telephone 55 61 2028 1525 Other involved actors Government Ministry of Environment Environment National Council (Conama) Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) Brazilian Forest Service National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA) National Institute for Space Research (INPE) Civil society, private sector, group of workers and multilateral actors World Wild Fund for Nature Brazilian Coalition on Climate, Forests and Agriculture Institute of Forest and Agricultural Management and Certification (Imaflora) InfoAmazonia Institute for Man and the Environment of the Amazon Region (Imazon) Forest Code Observatory Status quo or problem/issue to be addressed Expand and enhance active transparency in the environmental area, with participation of civil society, in order to make available data to citizens, considering its format, detail level and updating Main objective To foster open data availability and to improve active transparency mechanisms in the environmental area, in particular for Environmental License, Deforestation and Forest Conservation (wood flow, animal transportation guide, CAR - rural environmental register) Commitment short description It seeks to advance in the establishment of dialogue arenas among governmental departments and civil society organizations, which deal with environmental matter OGP Challenge addressed by the Commitment Increasing public integrity More effective public resources management Corporative accountability increment Commitment relevance It can make government and society work closer, and, therefore, improve the available data quality at the environmental area Goal To obtain more and better environmental information, considering the legal obligations, the demand and the database opening

IRM Midterm Status Summary

15. Open Data and Active Transparency in Environment Issues

Commitment Text:

Make room for dialogue between government and society, aiming at generating and implementing actions related to transparency in environment issues

The commitment seeks to improve active transparency mechanisms for environment issues, as well as to advance in making room for a better interaction between governmental areas and civil society, with the intent of building more effective actions to disclose environmental information in better quality and greater number.

15.1 – Input contribution by the society to the Open Data Plan

15.2 –The institutions shall present: a summary paper, which contains an overview of what was implemented about transparency, strategic plan commitments on transparency and the Open Data Plan status, too

15.3 - Civil society presents an expectation of data/format to be available (by survey)

15.4 –Make an event with the aim of consolidating information and building joint activities, as well as establishing a group for monitoring

15.5 – Engender a summary paper, with correspondent actions, people who are in charge, and deadlines (for next year)

15.6 – Execution of the established actions

Responsible institution: Ministry of Environment

Supporting institutions: Environment National Council (Conama), Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA), Brazilian Forest Service, National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), World Wild Fund for Nature, Brazilian Coalition on Climate, Forests and Agriculture, Institute of Forest and Agricultural Management and Certification (Imaflora), InfoAmazonia, Institute for Man and the Environment of the Amazon Region (Imazon), Forest Code Observatory

Start date: December 2016 . End date: November 2018

Context and Objectives

This commitment aims to improve active transparency mechanisms for environment issues, in particular environmental licenses, deforestation, and forest conservation. The commitment calls for the participation of civil society. The government expects to establish dialogue between governmental departments and civil society organizations. It will also identify challenges to, opportunities for, and demands for opening environmental datasets.

There is a growing need for open data regarding the environment in Brazil. For example, legislation created the open dataset of the Rural Environment Registration (CAR, Cadastro Ambiental Rural) in 2012. However, the government released the dataset in 2016.[1] CAR, an active transparency dataset, identifies all rural properties in Brazil. It also provides key information on their environment impact. Civil society considers the dataset key in mapping deforestation and other phenomena.[2] Based on the CAR dataset, for example, a 2017 study showed that owners of rural properties did little to reverse their social environmental impact in recent years.[3] Motivated by civil society demands, the commitment aims to build on the publication of datasets such as the CAR.

The commitment’s level of specificity is high. Concrete deliverables include the improvement of an open data plan, the hosting of an event, and the establishment of a monitoring group.

The commitment is mostly relevant to the OGP value of access to information. However, it is also relevant to civic participation, due to its collaborative nature. Given the expected release of the open datasets, the commitment is also relevant to the value of technology and innovation.

The commitment has a minor potential impact, mostly due to its focus on preliminary steps. Nonetheless, greater transparency in environmental information is a priority issue in Brazil. The commitment focuses on gathering civil society expectations, summarizing current efforts, and drafting a plan with new commitments. When implemented, the plan could lead to transformative outputs. However, without knowing the content of the plan or the level of ambition of the proposed reforms, it is not possible to consider the impact to be major.

Completion

The commitment has seen limited completion.

In May 2017, the government published civil society inputs to the Ministerial Open Data Plan (milestones 15.1).[4] Two civil society members interviewed by the IRM researcher confirmed the consultation process (Dário Cardoso and Joara Marchezini). Their confirmations were based on talks with those involved in the commitment implementation phase. The interviewees also confirmed that the government solicited their requests for datasets. The open data plan established a due date of November 2017 for the list of datasets to be released. Data publication was to start in December 2017.[5]

The government began drafting the summary paper of current initiatives, strategic commitments, and status of the open data plan (milestone 15.2). However, the government did not complete the paper by June 2017.[6] The IRM researcher could not find any record of the summary paper and did not receive information directly from the government. The rest of the milestones had not been started as of June 2017, including the establishment of a monitoring group.

The action plan set a deadline of October 2017 for milestones 15.1-15.5, which puts the commitment behind schedule.

Early Results (if any)

Given the limited level of commitment completion, it is not possible to assess early results.

Next Steps

The commitment should be fully implemented during the remainder of the action plan. In its midterm self-assessment report, the government acknowledged the main challenges of moving forward. Those include determining the processes for providing, integrating, and sharing new environmental data, and building a single portal to disclose environmental information and data.

A civil society interviewee stated that this commitment could have an important impact if three specific datasets are improved: CAR, the Declaration of Forest Origin (DOF), and the Animal Transit Guide (GTA). As described above, CAR refers to the registration of rural properties and their efforts to reduce their environmental impact. DOF is the certificate of origin of forestall products and can be used, for example, to investigate illegal commerce of environmental products.[7] GTA involves data on animal transportation and can be used to track, for example, illegal trafficking of oxen.[8]

The government could also incentivize the use of open datasets to increase public accountability. These efforts could include developing private sector and civil society tools or applications that use the data to increase transparency in the environmental sector.

[1] Portal Brasil, 'Governo divulga dados do cadastro de imóveis rurais,' 29 November 2016, http://www.brasil.gov.br/meio-ambiente/2016/11/governo-divulga-dados-do-cadastro-de-imoveis-rurais

[2] Bruno Calixto, 'Why Environmental Data Such as the Rural Environmental Registry Should Be Public,' EPOCA, 1 October 2017, http://epoca.globo.com/ciencia-e-meio-ambiente/blog-do-planeta/noticia/2017/01/por-que-dados-ambientais-como-o-cadastro-ambiental-rural-devem-ser-publicos.html.

[3] Phillippe Watanabe, 'Rural Environmental Registry Does Not Prevent De-registration or Encourages Restoration,' Folha de S.Paulo, 3 July 2017, http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/ambiente/2017/07/1898079-cadastro-de-propriedade-rural-nao-impede-desmate-nem-incentiva-restauro.shtml.

[4] 'Open Data Plan,' Ministry of Environment, http://www.mma.gov.br/plano-de-dados-abertos.

[6] Ministerio da Transparencia, Fiscalizacao e Controladoria-Geral da Uniao, Relatorio de Status de Execucao de Compromisso, http://www.governoaberto.cgu.gov.br/central-de-conteudo/documentos/2017-17-ago-rse_15.pdf

[7] G1 AC and Rio Branco, 'Without Issuance of DOF, Businessmen Complain of Problems in the Transportation of Wood in the AC,' Globo.com, 18 July 2017, https://g1.globo.com/ac/acre/noticia/sem-emissao-de-dof-empresarios-reclamam-de-problemas-para-transporte-de-madeira-no-ac.ghtml.

[8] Miguel Oliveira, 'Ibama Crosses Data on Illegal Deforestation with GTA to Discover Meat Route to Refrigerators in Para,' Journal of the State of Tapajos 14, no. 3338 (24 March 2017), http://www.oestadonet.com.br/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=11613:ibama-cruza-dados-de-desmatamento-ilegal-com-gta-para-descobrir-rota-de-carne-ate-frigorificos-no-para&Itemid=88.

Brazil's Commitments

  1. Subnational Good Governance

    BR0100, 2018, Capacity Building

  2. Open Data Policy

    BR0101, 2018, E-Government

  3. Scientific Data Governance

    BR0102, 2018, E-Government

  4. Capacity-Building and Oversight on Nutrition Policy

    BR0103, 2018, Capacity Building

  5. Transport Data

    BR0104, 2018, E-Government

  6. Transparency and Oversight in Infrastructure Repair Processes

    BR0105, 2018, Capacity Building

  7. Increase Participation in Legislative Process

    BR0106, 2018, Capacity Building

  8. Urban and Rural Land Registers

    BR0107, 2018, E-Government

  9. Climate Change Policy Evaluation

    BR0108, 2018, E-Government

  10. Water Resource Management

    BR0109, 2018, Capacity Building

  11. National Electronic System/ATI implementation

    BR0110, 2018, E-Government

  12. Open Data on the Federal Government

    BR0084, 2016, Capacity Building

  13. Transparency of Public Funds

    BR0085, 2016, Capacity Building

  14. Access to Information Policy in the Federal Government – Promptness and Effectiveness to Information Requests

    BR0086, 2016, Capacity Building

  15. Access to Information Policy in the Federal Government – Requesters’ Personal Information Safeguard

    BR0087, 2016, Legislation & Regulation

  16. Effectiveness of National Policy for Social Participation Mechanisms

    BR0088, 2016, Capacity Building

  17. Digital Educational Resources

    BR0089, 2016, Capacity Building

  18. Open Data and Information Governance in Health

    BR0090, 2016, E-Government

  19. Prevention to Torture and Mean, Inhuman, or Humiliating Treatments in the Penitentiary System

    BR0091, 2016, Capacity Building

  20. Innovation Spaces for Management in Public Services

    BR0092, 2016, Capacity Building

  21. Assessment and Streamline of Public Services

    BR0093, 2016, E-Government

  22. Open Innovation and Transparency in the Legislative

    BR0094, 2016, Capacity Building

  23. Fostering Open Government in States and Municipalities

    BR0095, 2016, Capacity Building

  24. Transparency and Innovation in the Judiciary

    BR0096, 2016, Capacity Building

  25. Social Participation in Federal Government’S Planning Cycle

    BR0097, 2016, E-Government

  26. Open Data and Active Transparency in Environment Issues

    BR0098, 2016, Environment and Climate

  27. Mapping and Participatory Management for Culture

    BR0099, 2016, Capacity Building

  28. Probity Defense and Asset Recovery

    BR0033, 2013, Anti-Corruption Institutions

  29. Development of a Methodology for Social Participation on the Monitoring of the Pluriannual Plan (PPA) and on the Formulation of the Federal Public Budget

    BR0034, 2013, Capacity Building

  30. Development of the Monitoring System for the Social Movements Demands

    BR0035, 2013, Capacity Building

  31. Capacity-Building of Educators, Political Agents, Public Managers, Councilors for Social Policies and Community Leaderships

    BR0036, 2013, Capacity Building

  32. Encourage States and Municipalities to Endorse the OGP Four Principles

    BR0037, 2013, Capacity Building

  33. Implementation of the ODP.Nano

    BR0038, 2013, Oversight of Budget/Fiscal Policies

  34. Strengthening of the Office of the Comptroller General (CGU)

    BR0039, 2013, Anti-Corruption Institutions

  35. Online Accountability of Resources for Education Within the National Fund for Education Development

    BR0040, 2013, E-Government

  36. Generation of Knowledge and Capacity-Building of Managers and Public Resources Operator’S Partners and of Councilors for Social Control

    BR0041, 2013, Capacity Building

  37. National Program for Strengthening School Councils

    BR0042, 2013, Capacity Building

  38. Development of a Unified and Interactive Information Panel on the Implementation of the Water for All Program, Which Can Be Publicly Accessed Through the Internet

    BR0043, 2013, Capacity Building

  39. Digital Inclusion of Health Councils

    BR0044, 2013, E-Government

  40. Starred commitment Development of Tools for Increasing Transparency and Enhancing Land Governance

    BR0045, 2013, E-Government

  41. Implementation of the Document Management Policy in the Federal Government

    BR0046, 2013, Capacity Building

  42. Development of the “Access to Information Library”

    BR0047, 2013, Capacity Building

  43. Disclosure of Data from the Execution of the Union Budget and from Government Purchases

    BR0048, 2013, Fiscal Transparency

  44. Dissemination of the Public Open Data Culture to the Local Governments

    BR0049, 2013, Capacity Building

  45. Development of Support Technologies and Licensing Models for the Disclosure of Open Data

    BR0050, 2013, E-Government

  46. Disclosure of Information from Government Systems in an Open Data Format

    BR0051, 2013, Open Data

  47. Corporative Information Management in Social Security (E-Governance)

    BR0052, 2013, E-Government

  48. Improvement of Active Transparency and of the Unique Health System’ Ombudsman Unit

    BR0053, 2013, Health

  49. Strengthening of the National Audit System of the Unique Health System (SUS)

    BR0054, 2013, Audits and Controls

  50. Increasing Public Transparency of the Labor Relations Secretariat of the Ministry of Labor and Employment

    BR0055, 2013, E-Government

  51. Disclosure of Recommendations to Carry Out Public Audiences to Serve as Reference for the Government

    BR0056, 2013, Capacity Building

  52. Development of a Database of the Federal Public Administration Purchases Prices

    BR0057, 2013, E-Government

  53. Participatory Audits on the Constructions of Brazilian Host Cities for the 2014 FIFA World Cup

    BR0058, 2013, Audits and Controls

  54. Development of an Indicators Model for Transparency of Brazilian Municipalities Institutional Development

    BR0059, 2013, Capacity Building

  55. Development of a Brazilian Portal for the Open Government Partnership (OGP)

    BR0060, 2013, E-Government

  56. Development of Monitoring Reports on the Electronic Citizen Information System (e-SIC)

    BR0061, 2013, E-Government

  57. Encouragement of Social Participation

    BR0062, 2013, Anti-Corruption Institutions

  58. Formulation and Implementation of the Ministry of Defense’S Information Management Policy

    BR0063, 2013, Records Management

  59. Development of a Database of Administrative Documents Produced by Brazil’S Navy

    BR0064, 2013, Public Participation

  60. Open Educational Data

    BR0065, 2013, Education

  61. Improvement of Data Transparency from the National Consumer Protection Information System (Sindec)

    BR0066, 2013, Legislation & Regulation

  62. Restructuring of the Brazilian Federal Government Transparency Portal

    BR0067, 2013, E-Government

  63. Electronic System for Public Consultations

    BR0068, 2013, E-Government

  64. Improvement of Health Services Through the Increased Use of the National Health Card

    BR0069, 2013, Health

  65. Participatory Development of the Federal Ombudsman System

    BR0070, 2013, Justice

  66. “Brazil Transparent” Program

    BR0071, 2013, Capacity Building

  67. Development of the Unique Health System Letter

    BR0072, 2013, Health

  68. Digital Cities Project

    BR0073, 2013, E-Government

  69. Development of the National System for the Promotion of Racial Equality (SINAPIR)

    BR0074, 2013, Human Rights

  70. Improvement of Mechanisms for Social Participation in the Formulation of Public Policies

    BR0075, 2013, Public Participation

  71. Brazilian Portal for Social Participation

    BR0076, 2013, E-Government

  72. Open Data in the Ministry of Justice

    BR0077, 2013, Justice

  73. Improvement of the Pro-Ethics Company Registry

    BR0078, 2013, Private Sector

  74. Expansion of the Database of the National Debarment List (CEIS):

    BR0079, 2013, Open Contracting and Procurement

  75. Monitoring of the National Plan for Food and Nutrition Security (PLANSAN)

    BR0080, 2013, Health

  76. Development of an Information System on the Maria Da Penha Law (Law No. 11,340/2006)

    BR0081, 2013, Gender

  77. Development of Processes for Prior Consultation Under the 169 Convention of the International Labour Organization’S (ILO)

    BR0082, 2013, Labor

  78. Redesign of the Current Protection Programs

    BR0083, 2013, Human Rights

  79. Capacity Building Programs

    BR0001, 2011, Capacity Building

  80. Distance Education Program

    BR0002, 2011, Capacity Building

  81. Guide for Public Officials on Access to Information

    BR0003, 2011, Capacity Building

  82. Information Services Model

    BR0004, 2011, E-Government

  83. Diagnostic Study on the Transparency Values of Executive Branch

    BR0005, 2011, Right to Information

  84. Diagnostic Study on Role of Federal Ombudsman Units (FOUs)

    BR0006, 2011, Justice

  85. Research Study to Identify the Demands of Society in Regard to Access to Information

    BR0007, 2011, Right to Information

  86. Preparation of a Catalogue of Public Data and Information

    BR0008, 2011, Capacity Building

  87. Organization of a Meeting of the Inter-Council Forum Multi-Year Plan 2012–15 (Phase 2)

    BR0009, 2011, Capacity Building

  88. Organization of the 1st National Conference on Transparency and Social Control (1St Consocial)

    BR0010, 2011, Capacity Building

  89. Organization of the 1st National Open Data Meeting

    BR0011, 2011, Capacity Building

  90. Organization of the National Seminar on Social Participation

    BR0012, 2011, Capacity Building

  91. Partnership with the Digital Culture Laboratory

    BR0013, 2011, Capacity Building

  92. Partnership with World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Brazil

    BR0014, 2011, Capacity Building

  93. Development of the National Open Data Infrastructure (INDA)

    BR0015, 2011, E-Government

  94. INDA Capacity Building Plan

    BR0016, 2011, Capacity Building

  95. INDA Awareness- Raising Activities

    BR0017, 2011, Capacity Building

  96. Launch of the Brazil Open Data Portal

    BR0018, 2011, E-Government

  97. Resource Transfer Agreements and Contract System (SICONV)

    BR0019, 2011, Fiscal Transparency

  98. Aquarius Platform

    BR0020, 2011, E-Government

  99. Data Warehouse

    BR0021, 2011, E-Government

  100. Restructuring the Transparency Portal

    BR0022, 2011, E-Government

  101. Facilitate Access to Specific Databases

    BR0023, 2011, E-Government

  102. Interactive School Development Plan

    BR0024, 2011, E-Government

  103. Control Panel for the Integrated Monitoring and Oversight System (Public Module)

    BR0025, 2011, E-Government

  104. United Suppliers Registry (SICAF)

    BR0026, 2011, E-Government

  105. Registry of National Education Prices

    BR0027, 2011, Education

  106. Contractual Management of IT Services

    BR0028, 2011, E-Government

  107. Implementation of Pro-Ethics Company Registry

    BR0029, 2011, Private Sector

  108. Systemic Integration of Ombudsman Units

    BR0030, 2011, E-Government

  109. Continued Training for Public Ombudsman Units

    BR0031, 2011, Capacity Building

  110. Public Services Portal

    BR0032, 2011, Open Data