Brasil's Lawmakers Approve Controversial Environmental Bill Ahead of COP30

Brazil’s Lawmakers Approve Controversial Environmental Bill Ahead of COP30 Brazil Brazilian lawmakers passed a bill Thursday that significantly weakens environmental protections by loosening land licensing, a move environmentalists say is the most severe setback to Brazil’s environmental program in 40 years, the Guardian reported. The new law, which critics call the “devastation bill,” was passed by the lower house of the legislature on Thursday by 267 votes to 116. The Senate passed the bill in May. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva now has two weeks to sign the bill or veto it. If he does veto the bill, however, it’s likely the legislature will overturn it. Analysts say this would likely spark a legal battle in the Supreme Court over the law’s constitutionality. Proponents of the bill say the process needs to be reformed because it is agonizingly slow. At the same time, Brazilian business leaders see the environmental permitting process as a barrier to development. Analysts say the impetus behind the bill was the long wait by state-run oil firm Petrobras to get a permit to drill for oil in the state of Amapá, a region in the Amazon with a fragile ecosystem and one of the poorest in Brazil. Meanwhile, critics say the bill permits projects deemed to have “medium” polluting potential to secure environmental licenses through a self-declared online form, bypassing prior impact assessment or regulatory oversight. This fast-track process used to only be allowed for low-risk activities. Now, it will affect about 90 percent of licensing procedures in the country, including mining and most agricultural activities. Opponents add that it would lead to large-scale deforestation and increase the risk of human-caused climate disasters, according to Reuters. Legal experts have already said the law violates the Constitution and previous Supreme Court rulings. Brazil will host the United Nations COP30 climate conference in November in the Amazon region, with critics adding that the law undermines the credibility of Brazil when it comes to environmental safeguards.