US EditionBrazil’s congress passes bill to overhaul environmental regulations
BRAZIL, JUL 17 – The bill passed with 267 to 116 votes and aims to speed up approvals for strategic projects, but environmentalists warn it could weaken protections and increase degradation.
- Brazil's Congress passed a bill on July 17, 2025, that weakens environmental permitting, with 267 votes for and 116 against it.
- Environmentalists and some government officials criticize the bill for prioritizing development over environmental protection ahead of COP30.
- Minister Marina Silva said the bill represents a major setback for Brazil's climate commitments, explaining that it dismantles existing environmental protections.
- Pressure has grown on Brazil's environmental agency Ibama to issue oil drilling permits in the Amazon, despite environmental concerns.
37 Articles
37 Articles
Parliament has waved through a bill that could drastically speed up the destruction of elementary biomes in the South American country and appeals to President Lula to veto it.
The Chamber of Deputies has voted for a text on the relaxation of regulations which makes it possible to ignore the environmental impacts of projects deemed strategic. On this subject, President Lula's position is ambiguous.
The parliament (right) has passed a law that makes it easier to build: the government (left) is not happy
In Brazil, Congress has just passed a bill to ease the conditions for issuing environmental permits. While in November, the country will host the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, COP30, in the Amazon city of Belém, ecologists denounce an "destroying initiative for the environment".
Associated Press News
Brazil's congress passes bill to overhaul environmental regulations
Brazil’s lower house has passed a controversial bill that overhauls environmental legislation. Critics argue it undermines safeguards and harms Brazil’s credibility ahead of hosting U.N. climate talks in November.
“A day of mourning.” This is how Brazil’s Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva, defined the day after the National Congress struck the hardest blow in years to Brazil’s environmental legislation. Brazilian MPs, with a conservative majority, approved Thursday morning a bill that in practice dismantles much of the environmental legislation that Brazil has been building in recent decades. The rule was being processed for more than 20 years and…
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