International Rivers expresses its profound concern over yesterday’s passage of Bill 2159/21 in the Brazilian Congress, which guts key, longstanding procedures for environmental licensing. If signed into law by President Lula, this legislation would undo decades of progress that has been instrumental in limiting the environmental and social harms from extractive projects and infrastructure projects such as dams. The “devastation bill,” which would allow project developers to bypass requirements to prepare full environmental impact assessments, would presage a more frequent occurrence of environmental tragedies, such as the Brumadinho tailings dam disaster in 2019. On the eve of COP 30, we stand in solidarity with Brazilian environmental groups, Indigenous communities, and all those who have fought tirelessly to protect nature and rights in Brazil, and call on Brazilian authorities to maintain key protections for Brazil’s forests and rivers that are essential to our collective survival.
Photo credit: Daniel Soutinho / Shuttestock