Under the law, cleared forests or lands logged without a license can be retroactively legalized without restoring land or environmental conditions, thereby rewarding illegal logging. Larger projects such as irrigation, dams and sanitation, as well as roads and energy infrastructure, can be carried out with minimal environmental controls, risking further forest fragmentation and habitat destruction. And licensing changes narrow who must be recognized and consulted during inspections, potentially excluding communities without formal land rights.
Human rights issue
It's troubling that the Legislature overrode the veto, he said. Astrid Puentes RiañoUN Special Rapporteur on the human right to a healthy environment. As it stands, the law may violate Brazil's international environmental obligations, she added.
“What's at stake [whether] Brazil as a country is capable of effectively protecting the environment, including all its essential resources,” she said.
She noted that Brazil is not alone in facing this problem.
“I think we've unfortunately seen a wave of regression around the world towards weakening environmental impact assessments because they are seen as barriers to development and investment,” she said.
But cutting reviews when the science clearly shows the planet faces a “triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and toxic pollution” is a huge step in the wrong direction.
“An environmental impact assessment is not a supermarket checklist,” she said. “They are an important element for states to prevent environmental, climate, human rights and social impacts.”
She stressed that weakening environmental review is not a technocratic ploy or a political victory for one side. This undermines the foundations of public health, indigenous rights and climate security.
“This is not about politics, this is about survival,” she said. “Some of these impacts on water, air, biodiversity and human health are irreversible. These are not things that can be corrected later.”
Climate response is scientifically unfounded
Fight for Brazil environmental licensing law can be seen as a microcosm of tensions in global climate politics: governments performatively signal climate ambitions at international meetings such as COP30, while simultaneously increasing economic nationalism by declaring that there is no money at home to fight climate change and instead funding measures to stimulate development and growth.
