"The Devastation Bill 'mortally wounds environmental licensing'," says Marina Silva.

247 - Brazil's Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva, harshly criticized the bill that changes the rules for environmental licensing in Brazil. Approved by the Chamber of Deputies in the early hours of Thursday (17), the proposal had 267 votes in favor and 116 against, and now goes to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) for his signature.

"Unfortunately, Bill No. 2.159/2021, which fatally undermines one of the country's main instruments for environmental protection, namely environmental licensing, was approved in the Chamber of Deputies in the early hours of this Thursday, the 17th, Forest Protection Day," the minister wrote in a post on Instagram.

According to Marina, the approved text "extremely relaxes environmental licensing procedures and weakens the entire legal framework that supports socio-environmental protection, without bringing any gain in efficiency or speed." She also warned of the legal risks of the measure: "structural setbacks" and "legal uncertainty," which, according to the minister, could motivate legal challenges from "sectors of society."

The bill in question — PL 2.159/2021 — has been under consideration in Congress for over a decade and has become a priority for the productive sector. The substitute bill approved by the Chamber incorporates 29 amendments made in the Senate and establishes general rules for environmental licensing throughout the national territory.

One of the most controversial points in the text is the creation of the Special Environmental License (LAE), which could be granted even to projects with significant potential for environmental impact, provided they meet certain pre-established requirements. Critics argue that the change widens loopholes for flexibilities that could weaken control over activities with high environmental risk.

Despite the defeat in the Chamber of Deputies, Marina stated that the government will continue working to ensure that environmental legislation is compatible with the country's challenges. "Society must remain mobilized, and the government will continue working because we need to consolidate a legal framework for environmental licensing that is commensurate with our immense natural resources, with Brazilian legal tradition, both in defense of the environment and in the security and predictability for projects to be licensed, and aligned with the principles of sustainability and environmental protection," declared the minister.