New Brazil’s Development Act risks the deforestation of the Amazon

A new law in Brazil can cause “significant environmental damage and human rights” and is a “return for decades” to Brazil’s defense, including Amazon, is a UN expert in front of the BBC News.

Plans to accelerate development approvals have been criticized by Astrid Punettes Riaño, a special UN connection, as the country is preparing to host the COP30 Summit for the Climate this year.

Legislators have adopted plans to simplify environmental infrastructure licenses, including roads, dams, energy and mines this month, although the President has not officially approved the bill.

Critics called it the “devastation bill” and say it could lead to environmental and deforestation.

Proponents say a new national licensing regime would simplify the long and complex process that companies face to prove to authorities that planned developments do not cause unacceptable environmental harm.

According to the changes, some developers could declare their environmental impact through an online form for projects considered less – supporters of this move would reduce bureaucracy, but critics believe they are a major concern.

D -Ja Riaño told the BBC that he feared that the easier provisions would “apply to some extraction projects” and “influence the Amazon region”.

She also said she was “very worried” by plans to automatically update the licenses of some projects that have not occurred major changes, saying: “This will prevent environmental impact assessments on these projects. Some of the projects will include projects for extraction or infrastructure projects that require full evaluation.

“This will also cause deforestation. Modifying or project continuation may indicate deforestation in the Amazon without appropriate evaluation.”

A lot of deforestation and cleansing of land in the Amazon were led by agriculture and extraction, sometimes illegal – but d -ja riaño said the bill “goes back” in its efforts to prevent it.

Her intervention comes two months after the new analysis is published The display of huge parts of the Amazon were destroyed in 2024.With forest fires, nourished by drought, adding to the pressure of a person’s deforestation.

According to the new law, environmental agencies will have 12 months – expanding to 24 – to decide whether to provide a license for strategic projects. If this period was missed, the license could be granted automatically.

Proponents say this would give business security by preventing the delay that has hit projects, including hydroelectric dams for clean energy or railway lines for the transport of grain.

D -Ja Riaño said it understands the need for more efficient systems, but assessments must be “comprehensive” and “based on science”.

The law will also grant the requirement to consult the root or traditional Quilombola communities – descendants of Afro -Brazilian slaves – in some situations, unless they are directly affected.

UN experts have expressed fears that rapid tracking assessments can eliminate some participation and affect human rights.

Proponents of the bill say it will promote economic development, including renewable energy projects held to increase the economy and reduce business and state costs.

But critics are afraid that weakening environmental protection can increase the risk of environmental disasters and violate the rights of the indigenous population.

In particular, UN experts say that this may contradict constitutional rights that guarantee the right to an environmentally balanced environment – which means that legal challenges may be forthcoming.

The Senate and the Chamber of MPs approved the bill and is now waiting for the president’s approval.

President Lula da Silva has until August 8 to decide whether to approve or veto the new law.

The Minister of Environment and Climate Change in Brazil, Marina Silva, strongly opposed the bill, condemning it as a “death stroke” of environmental protection.

But it contradicts the President on other issues in the past, including proposals to study oil drilling in the Amazon pool.

Even if the president vetoed him, the conservative congress is likely to try to try to turn this.

The Brazilian Climate Observatory called the bill “the biggest environmental failure” after the military dictatorship of Brazil, in which the construction of roads and agricultural expansion led to an increase in the deforestation of the Amazon and the displacement of many local people.

G -Ja Riaño said scientists in Brazil are evaluating the bill “will raise protection for more than 18 million hectares in the country, the size of Uruguay,” adding “the consequences are huge.”