The Minister of the Institutional Relations Secretariat, Gleisi Hoffmann, said this Thursday (27) that the overthrown by the National Congress of the vetoes to the Environmental Licensing Law is a loss not for the government, but for Brazil. 
“The environment, the protection of our biomes, the safety of food and the health of the population, indigenous people and quilombolas, the reputation of the products we export will lose”, stated the minister.
This Thursday (27), the National Congress overturned 56 of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s 63 vetoes to the bill (PL) that eliminates or relaxes rules for environmental licensing in Brazil. The text was nicknamed by critics the “PL of Devastation”.
Gleisi also said that the parliamentarians’ decision contradicts the effort that Brazil has just made during the UN Conference on Climate Change (COP30), in Belém (PA), towards tackling climate change.
Understand
The bill that reduces requirements for environmental licensing had been approved by the Chamber in July and received harsh criticism from environmentalists and sector entities. In August, President Lula sanctioned the project winding 63 of the 400 proposed devices.
Yesterday, faced with the possibility of vetoes being analyzed by the National Congress, the government released a statement defending its maintenance.
According to the government, the vetoes were defined after rigorous technical and legal evaluations, with the participation of the scientific community and various sectors of society. And they took into account the recent scenario of environmental and climate disasters in the country.
The measures, states Planalto, also seek to ensure legal security for enterprises and investors; incorporate innovations that make licensing more agile, without compromising quality; and guarantee the rights of indigenous peoples and quilombola communities.
