BRAZIL: BILL THREATENS HUMAN RIGHTS AND CLIMATE 

Mr. President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva,

I am writing to you to share my concern about the “General Environmental Licensing Law”, also referred to by civil society as “Devastation Bill” (PL da Devastação), approved by the Chamber of Deputies on July 17, 2025, now under your consideration.

This bill severely weakens Brazil’s environmental licensing framework by enabling automatic approval for most projects through “License by Adhesion and Commitment,” based solely on self-declaration, without prior environmental or human rights assessments. It also exempts entire sectors, such as agroforestry and livestock, from licensing, and creates a “special environmental license” to fast-track government designated strategic projects without full environmental review. These modifications pose serious and irreversible risks to the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment and, if implemented, would accelerate environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, and climate change.

The bill also restricts the participation of institutions tasked with protecting Indigenous rights in the approval of projects to only those on demarcated lands, disregarding the many territories awaiting formal recognition. This undermines the collective rights of Indigenous Peoples and Quilombola communities to their lands, territories, and resources. We also stress that the bill was passed without meaningful public consultation and could lead to violations to the rights to access information, public participation, and access to justice.

I urgently request your full veto of the “PL da Devastação”. We emphasize that the approval of this bill contradicts Brazil’s international human rights and environmental commitments, especially in light of its presidency of the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference (COP30).

Yours sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]