Brazil’s “Devastation Bill”: A Turning Point for Environment, Rights, and Climate

Brazil has long held a crucial place in the global fight against climate change and biodiversity loss. Its Amazon rainforest, the Cerrado, Pantanal, Caatinga, and Atlantic Forest are not just national treasures—they are global regulators of climate, guardians of biodiversity, and home to Indigenous, Quilombola, and traditional communities. But in 2025, Brazil passed a law that many experts say threatens to unravel decades of environmental protection. Known by critics as the “Devastation Bill,” officially Bill 2159/2021, this sweeping rollback of environmental licensing marks both potential danger and resistance.

What the Devastation Bill Actually Does

1. Weakened Environmental Licensing and OversightThe bill loosens the rules for environmental licensing, which historically have required technical assessments, public review, and oversight by federal environmental agencies like IBAMA and ICMBio. Under the new law:

• Projects classified as “small” or “medium” impact—including agriculture, energy, mining, and infrastructure—can receive environmental licenses through self-declaration, rather than undergoing rigorous assessment. This process is called LAC (Licença por Adesão e Compromisso, or License by Adhesion and Commitment).

• A Special Environmental License (LAE) fast-tracks “strategic projects,” reducing review for priority government projects. Environmental impact assessments might be skipped or greatly simplified.

2. Reduced Role of Indigenous, Quilombola & Traditional Communities

• Input from Indigenous peoples and Quilombola communities is now limited in many areas. Before, consultation and participation in licensing decisions—even if lands were not fully recognized or titled—was more guaranteed. Under the new law, only officially designated territories may require consultation or community participation.

• Many Indigenous / traditional territories are still not officially titled or recognized. This means large portions of those lands are now excluded from protections that require licensing or environmental review. Brasil de Fato+The Guardian+

3. Simplified & Reduced Requirements for Environmental Impact Studies

• Some highways improvements or expansions may bypass environmental reviews under the new rules. For example, upgrades to existing roads could be approved without full study. euronews+euronews

• Technical criteria, risk analysis, and procedures for obtaining environmental licenses can be overridden or weakened. IPAM Amazônia+World Animal Protection

4. Federal Oversight & Legal Protections are Diluted

• The bill reduces the powers of federal bodies to regulate or veto projects in certain ecologically sensitive or protected areas. Brasil de Fato+Le Monde.fr+World Animal Protection

• Some articles of the bill allow states and municipalities more leeway, which could lead to fragmented enforcement and local jurisdictions with weaker protection or more corruption risk. IPAM Amazônia+ World Animal Protection

What Has Been Done to Push Back

Because of huge outcry from environmental organizations, scientists, Indigenous and Quilombola communities, and civil society inside and outside Brazil, some of the law’s worst parts were vetoed or modified:

• On August 8, 2025, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed the law, but vetoed or changed about 63 out of nearly 400 articles. Some vetoed parts include those that would have removed assessments for high-impact projects and severely limited Indigenous and traditional people’s participation. Reuters

• The law still passed in large part, and many concerns remain—even among provisions that stayed. Some critics say that although the vetoes are positive, they don’t fully fix fundamental issues of unaccountability, loss of oversight, and weakened protections. Amazon Watch

Why Many Think It’s a Danger

1. Increased Risk of Deforestation & Climate EmissionsBrazil’s biomes are already under stress. Amazon, Cerrado, Pantanal, and Atlantic Forest are among the regions near ecological tipping points. Weak environmental licensing may allow faster clearance of forest, more cattle raising, more soy/dairy expansion, leading to more carbon emissions.

2. Threats to Biodiversity and WildlifeSpecies living in protected ecosystems—forest fragments, wetlands, rivers—depend on regulation, oversight, and conservation units. Weakened licensing means more moisture wetlands drained, more forest edges lost, greater habitat fragmentation. Many animals (jaguars, anteaters, numerous amphibians, rare birds, etc.) likely to suffer. World Animal Protection

3. Impacts on Indigenous & Quilombola CommunitiesThese communities often depend on land for subsistence: fishing, hunting, gathering, small-scale agriculture. If projects proceed without consultation or license, their lands can be degraded or lost, water polluted, cultural sites destroyed. Lands not yet legally titled are especially vulnerable.

4. Reputational / International ConsequencesBrazil has positioned itself as a leader on climate and biodiversity recently (especially under Lula). With Brazil hosting COP30, many see this bill as damaging Brazil’s credibility in the international community. Trade deals, foreign aid, and partnerships may be affected if Brazil is seen to be rolling back environmental protections. Brasil de Fato

What’s at Stake If the Rollback Widely Takes Effect

• Clean air and water could be worse in many regions; pollution controls might weaken.

• Soil, rivers, wetlands could degrade; risk of erosion, loss of water regulation, increased flooding.

• Traditional foods and ecological services (pollinator insects, seasonal rivers, wild plants) could be reduced or vanish in affected areas.

• Increased carbon emissions add not only to global climate change but to local climate extremes (heat, drought, shifts in rain patterns) that affect agriculture and food security.

A Call to Awareness & Action

This isn’t just about laws or forests—this is about people, culture, and survival.

• Share knowledge: Let people know about this bill. The more people are aware, the more pressure there is.

• Support Indigenous and environmental groups who are defending legal rights, doing scientific monitoring, and taking legal action.

• Monitor and demand enforcement: Even with weaker parts, laws still require transparency, impact assessments, public participation. Demand that they happen.

• Hold elected officials accountable: Brazil has elections, international attention, trade deals; all of those depend, in part, on environmental credibility.

Conclusion

Brazil’s “Devastation Bill” marks one of the most serious reversals in environmental protection the country has seen in decades. While some problematic parts were vetoed, much of the damage is already legal via the passed portions. For Brazil’s ecosystems, for global climate, and for the rights of the many communities whose lives depend on land and water, its implications are enormous.

Through food, culture, land, and memory, we can stay connected to what’s at stake—and use our voices as part of resistance and solidarity. Because when forests disappear, wildlife suffers—and human nourishment is threatened too.