In 2015, Brazil faced one of the worst environmental tragedies in its history: the Mariana dam collapse. It killed 19 people, destroyed entire communities, and polluted the Doce River for hundreds of kilometers. Just four years later, in 2019, Brumadinho suffered a similar fate — more than 270 lives lost, toxic mud spreading through everything, and irreversible damage to both people and nature.
These two disasters share a common cause: serious failures in environmental licensing.
Now, a new bill is circulating in Brazil’s Congress that could make such tragedies even more likely. Bill 2159/2021 — known by civil society as the “Devastation Bill” — proposes a dangerous weakening of environmental licensing. If approved, companies would be allowed to declare whether their projects pose environmental risks, skipping independent assessments. Entire sectors like agribusiness would be exempt from licenses altogether.
This bill would leave Indigenous and traditional communities unprotected and could further accelerate deforestation. The impact wouldn’t stop at Brazil’s borders — it threatens global climate goals and could isolate the country from key international agreements.
Want to understand what’s at stake and how you can fight back? Take the quiz and learn how to resist this environmental setback.