UN Experts Praise Brazil’s Move to Block Weakened Environmental Licensing Rules

Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1530 EAT on Friday 7 November 2025

UN experts have welcomed President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s decision to veto 63 articles of Brazil’s recently adopted environmental licensing law, describing it as a crucial step toward protecting environmental safeguards, human rights, and the climate.

“These vetoes demonstrate Brazil’s commitment to upholding its international human rights and environmental obligations,” the experts said in a statement on Thursday.

The experts had earlier voiced serious concerns that the proposed legislation would have weakened environmental, climate, and human rights protections.

They warned it could undermine Brazil’s duty to prevent environmental and climate harm, take effective action to address the “triple planetary crisis” of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, and protect communities from business-related human rights abuses.

In a public statement issued in July 2025, the UN experts cautioned that the bill would “open the door to serious risks of irreparable harm to communities and ecosystems.”

By vetoing most of the bill’s most problematic provisions, the Brazilian government has effectively addressed the key concerns raised by UN experts, they said in a statement.

Among the vetoed provisions were exemptions for mining activities from environmental licensing, self-licensing for medium-risk projects, and measures that would have weakened the right to free, prior and informed consent for Indigenous Peoples and Quilombola Afro-descendant communities living on unmarked lands.

The government also struck down clauses that would have reduced protections for the Atlantic Forest (Mata Atlântica) and decentralised environmental authority, a move experts warned could undermine oversight and accountability.

The experts noted that while the law still contains a reference to a simplified licensing process for so-called “strategic projects”, a precautionary review mechanism has been established to evaluate these cases.

“All projects – strategic or otherwise – that could significantly impact the environment, climate or human rights must undergo a comprehensive environmental impact assessment based on the best available science, including Indigenous knowledge and other traditional systems,” the experts said.

They added:

“We welcome the Brazilian government’s decision, as it shows that listening to those affected — including rights holders and the scientific community — can lead to sound decisions and prevent long-term harm to the right to a healthy environment.

This includes safeguarding the human rights of Indigenous Peoples and Quilombolas, protecting the environment and climate, promoting national interests, and securing the rights of present and future generations.”

The experts urged Brazil’s National Congress to uphold the presidential vetoes, warning that overturning them would violate the Constitution, human rights protections, environmental safeguards, and the country’s obligations under international law, including multiple treaties and customary norms.

“Brazil should continue to strengthen mechanisms for meaningful consultation and participation, particularly with Indigenous Peoples, Quilombolas, and local communities, to ensure that future legislation effectively fulfills environmental, climate, and human rights obligations, as clarified by the Advisory Opinions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the International Court of Justice,” the experts said. They added that such measures would also reinforce Brazil’s leadership ahead of COP30 in Belém.

Credit to ohchr

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