Brazil's general environmental licensing law: Congress overrides the vetoes
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
Brazil's Congress overrode 52 of the 63 vetoes the government placed on the General Environmental Licensing Law, on 27 November 2025, days after the COP30 climate summit in Belém. The restored provisions include a self-declared licence and licence exemptions for some activities.
27 November 2025. One news outlet counts 56 overridden; other sources give 52 to 56.
Status As of June 2026: Congress overrode 52 veto items on 27 November 2025 and seven LAE-related items in June 2026; no court ruling on the override found in the sources reviewed.
- Operators of activities covered by the restored self-declared licence and licence exemptions (small and medium low- and medium-pollution activities; maintenance of existing infrastructure; agriculture on land with an unapproved rural registry entry) — Lighter licensing requirements Agência Senado
- FUNAI and Fundação Palmares — Their opinions in licensing became advisory only Agência Senado
What happened
Brazil's General Environmental Licensing Law (Law 15,190/2025) was signed by President Lula with 63 provisions vetoed by the government.
On 27 November 2025 the National Congress overrode 52 of the vetoed items (Veto no. 29/2025), according to Agência Senado. The restored provisions include a licence based on the company's own declaration (the "licença de adesão e compromisso", LAC) for small and medium activities with low and medium pollution potential; a licence exemption for maintenance of existing infrastructure and for agricultural activities on rural properties whose entry in the rural environmental registry (CAR) has not yet been approved; removal of federal and municipal approval in the Atlantic Forest; and a change that makes the opinions of the Indigenous affairs agency FUNAI and of the Fundação Palmares advisory only.
The override came days after COP30, which Brazil hosted in Belém. Agência Pública reported the override under a headline giving 56 vetoes; the sources reviewed give a range of 52 to 56.
Provisions on the special environmental licence (Licença Ambiental Especial, LAE) were dealt with separately through provisional measure MP 1,308/2025. Seven LAE-related items were counted as overridden in June 2026.
- 2025Law 15,190/2025 signed with 63 provisions vetoed by the government
- 202527 Nov: Congress overrides 52 veto items, days after COP30
- 2026June: seven items on the special environmental licence (LAE) counted as overridden; LAE provisions also addressed in MP 1,308/2025
What was said
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
Congress overrode 52 items of the veto to the General Environmental Licensing Law on 27 November 2025.
Agência SenadoCongress overrode 56 vetoes of the environmental licensing law after COP30 (headline figure).
Agência PúblicaHow it looked
Shown
Recorded
- Congress overrode 52 veto items on 27 November 2025; restored items include the self-declared LAC licence, licence exemptions for existing-infrastructure maintenance and for agriculture on land with an unapproved rural registry entry, and advisory-only opinions from FUNAI and Fundação Palmares.
- The government had vetoed 63 provisions of the law (Veto no. 29/2025).
- Agência Pública reported 56 vetoes overridden after COP30.
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What nature saw
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Figures
- Insufficient Indigenous lands unprotected: Figure attributed to FUNAI; reported but not independently verified.
Accounts
- Disputed How many vetoes did Congress override?
Record
- None on record How many vetoes were overridden: sources give 52 (Agência Senado) and 56 (Agência Pública headline); one summary says 52 to 56.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the Indigenous affairs agency FUNAI said 297 Indigenous territories would be left unprotected by the restored provisions.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the umbrella group Observatório do Clima, bringing together 161 organisations, called the override the largest environmental setback in the country's history, and organisations took the matter to the Supreme Court.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the congressional agribusiness caucus (Frente Parlamentar da Agropecuária) covered 306 of 513 deputies and 50 senators in December 2024. The sources reviewed do not document its role on this law.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the law was signed on 8 August 2025.
- None on record No ecological evaluation of the restored provisions appears in the sources reviewed.
Did the harm stop?
Not assessed in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not established in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Government and regulators
- Congresso derruba 52 itens de veto à Lei Geral do Licenciamento AmbientalAgência Senado · 2025-11-27
Press and investigations
- Congresso derruba 56 vetos de licenciamento ambiental após COP30Agência Pública · 2025-11
Connected cases
- Indigenous land registration cut Amazon deforestation; recent Brazilian rulings reverse course Brazil · 2005–2025
- FUNAI (National Indigenous Peoples Foundation) (Public authority) — here: Indigenous affairs agency whose opinion became advisory; there: Brazil's Indigenous affairs agency; source of the 2025 clearing figures