In blow to Lula, Brazil Congress revives controversial environmental bill

Lawmakers reversed around 80 percent of Lula's vetoes in a major blow to his government just days after Brazil wrapped up the hosting of COP30 UN climate talks. 

The bill "kills environmental licensing in the country", said the Climate Observatory, a coalition of NGOs, vowing to take legal action against it.

For some permits, all that will be required is a simple declaration of the company's commitment to preserving the environment.

This move "contradicts the government's environmental and climate efforts, right after hosting COP30. Very bad news," Institutional Relations Minister Gleisi Hoffmann wrote on X.

The government had warned a day earlier that overturning the vetoes could have "immediate and hard-to-reverse effects," citing the "alarming rise in extreme climate disasters."

Lawmaker Sostenes Cavalcante -- an ally of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro -- celebrated the move, accusing Lula of seeking to "undermine agribusiness, the only sector still performing well economically in Brazil."

The Climate Observatory accused congressional leaders of hypocrisy for approving what it called "the worst environmental setback in Brazil's history" just days after appearing as "climate defenders" at COP30.

The NGO said the bill will impact everything from major new agricultural projects to mining projects to the controversial paving of a major highway in the Amazon, which will be exempt from environmental licensing.

Lula boasts an overall positive environmental record, having overseen a sharp decline in deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.

However, he came under fire from environmentalists for backing a controversial oil-exploration project near the mouth of the Amazon River, which began in October.

rsr-ll/fb/ksb