In April 2024, the Partido Democrático Trabalhista (PDT), a political party, filed a Direct Action of Unconstitutionality (ADI) challenging the constitutionality of Articles 4, item I; 5, items V, VII, XI, and XIII; 6; 7, caput and § 2; and 13, caput and § 1 of Federal Law 13.576/2017 – the National Biofuels Policy Act (RenovaBio). The aim of the action is to deregulate the carbon market established by this policy. The party alleges a formal defect in the legislative process, claiming that the legislative process was diverted to serve private interests at the expense of environmental protection. On substantive grounds, it is argued that the law infringes constitutional provisions related to an ecologically balanced environment, the social function of property, the prohibition of insufficient protection, and free enterprise. The party contends that the law’s actual purpose is to provide financial support to the biofuels sector rather than to protect the environment. This assertion is based on RenovaBio’s alleged failure to contribute effectively to GHG emission reductions due to the lack of additionality in Decarbonization Credits (CBIOs), meaning no measurable and effective reduction in GHG emissions or CO₂ removal occurs, as required by the law, to genuinely mitigate climate change.

The party further argues that RenovaBio represents state intervention in the economic domain, selectively benefiting producers and importers without delivering corresponding environmental protection and concealing environmentally harmful practices under the guise of meeting international commitments under the Paris Agreement. Additionally, the law places the responsibility for decarbonizing the entire fossil fuel supply chain on distributors, despite their accounting for only a portion of the agents involved, thereby creating an inequitable regulatory burden. The action seeks a declaration of formal and substantive unconstitutionality of Federal Law 13.576/2017, with partial nullity without textual reduction, and interpretation aligned with the Constitution for Articles 4, item I; 5, items XXIII, V, VII, XI, and XIII; 6; 7, caput and § 2; and 13, caput and § 1.

The claimant party subsequently requested to withdraw the action, but it was not dismissed due to the principle of indisposability, which governs concentrated constitutional control actions.


ADI 7617 (RenovaBio)

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ADI 7617 (RenovaBio) - petition

Filed

Brazil

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

A subsidy is a direct or indirect payment to individuals or businesses, typically provided as a government cash payment or a specific tax reduction.

Tradable permits are market-based tools that grant permission for specific activities, frequently used to regulate emissions. These permits can be issued within a trading system to manage environmental impacts.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Actions or measures to adapt terrestrial systems to climate change.

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The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

Energy derived from biological compounds that are renewable due to their short life cycle within the carbon dioxide cycle.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

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People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

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woman and genders outside of the gender binary

Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

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This sector creates and distributes information and entertainment through television, radio, print, and digital platforms.

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Climate change can have a range of impacts on technological system. Extreme weather events can cause infrastructure failures like power outages or damage to roads and bridges, as well as the impacts from waste following natural disasters. Human activities also cause technological impacts, such as the risks posed by oil spillage and leaks.

Climate change impacts our society by disrupting the natural, economic and social systems we depend on. Physical hazards and underlying vulnerabilities can lead to increased resource competition for food and water, which can heighten the risk of conflict.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

ADI 7617 (RenovaBio) - petition

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance