Urgent Alert: Proposed Bill in Brazil Poses Serious Threats to Human Rights and Climate Protection

The General Environmental Licensing Law, known as the “Devastation Bill,” was recently passed by Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies on July 17, 2025, with 267 votes in favor and 115 against. Now, it’s awaiting the decision of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who can choose to veto it.

This bill, supported by agribusiness and oil industries, weakens Brazil’s environmental licensing rules significantly. One troubling aspect is the “License by Adhesion and Commitment” that allows most projects to avoid thorough environmental and human rights assessments. Companies can gain approval based only on self-declarations, with no oversight from authorities.

Moreover, entire sectors like agroforestry and livestock farming are exempt from environmental licensing. This means they only need to fill out a simple form instead of undergoing detailed environmental impact evaluations. There’s also a new “special environmental license” for certain government-approved projects, such as oil extraction, which can speed through the approval process without full assessments.

These changes threaten the right to a clean environment, a principle recognized by the UN and laid out in Brazil’s Constitution. They reduce public access to information, participation, and justice in matters affecting local communities.

For Indigenous Peoples, the bill poses severe dangers. It limits authority involvement to projects affecting officially recognized Indigenous lands, overlooking the fact that about 32.6% of these lands are not yet titled. This undermines their rights guaranteed by international agreements Brazil has ratified, like the ILO Convention No. 169.

A group of UN Special Rapporteurs has highlighted the significant risks to human rights stemming from this bill, especially for Indigenous communities. The situation in Brazil is already precarious, with ongoing issues like police violence against marginalized groups and threats faced by environmental defenders.

With rising deforestation and frequent wildfires, the current laxity in environmental policies only intensifies climate risks. Legislation like the “Devastation Bill” makes things worse by weakening protections and promoting exploitation. Brazil needs to honor its commitments to human rights and environmental protection. Failing to do so could diminish its global influence, especially at a time when climate action is crucial.

In a recent survey by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), over 70% of Brazilians expressed concerns about environmental degradation impacting their communities. This shows widespread public sentiment against such regressive policies. The stakes are high, and Brazil must restore its commitment to safeguarding the environment for future generations.



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