BRAZILIAN FRAMEWORK LAW ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND BUSINESS AND THE PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT

Resumo

Bill 572/2022 is the Brazilian initiative that creates the National Framework Law on Human Rights and Business and establishes guidelines for the promotion of public policies on the subject. This proposal arises from a regional and global movement for binding regulation, such as the treaty and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). The environmental issue is directly connected to this agenda at a national level as companies from the most diverse sectors, such as mining, agriculture business, energy sector and chemical industries, have been responsible for deforestation, river contamination, land degradation and the emission of polluting gases. Emblematic cases, such as the failure of the Fundão dam in Mariana and the Feijão mine in Brumadinho, highlight the seriousness of environmental violations when there is negligence in regulating and monitoring business activities. In this way, the quest to protect the environment in Bill 572/22 is also the result of the lessons learned from these concrete cases. When we face a questioning of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right, which was recognized in 2022 by the UN General Assembly with the Resolution 76/300 (A/RES/76/300), during the negotiations of the international legally binding instrument on business and human rights, its discussion becomes even more relevant. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to demonstrate how the Brazilian bill is linked to environmental protection through its provisions and the context in which the national human rights and business agenda is inserted. In Brazil, the 1988 Federal Constitution enshrines the environment as a right and imposes on the public authorities and the community the duty to preserve it, moreover, the Brazilian environmental legislation is considered one of the most advanced, as it includes rules such as the National Environmental Policy, the Forest Code and the Environmental Crimes Law. However, the application of these laws faces significant challenges due to a lack of enforcement, corruption and insufficient technical and financial resources from inspection bodies. The methodology adopted was a documental analysis of the bill, whose purpose was to assess whether there is mention of environmental issues and how the provisions can be used to ensure their protection. As a result, we observed that the Brazilian Bill proposes the creation of a more effective regulatory framework to prevent violations of human and environmental rights as it addresses the issue by establishing clear legal obligations for companies to prevent, mitigate and remedy human and environmental rights violations in their production chains, as well as introducing the duty of companies to carry out ongoing environmental and social impact assessments, including mechanisms for consulting affected communities. Bill 572/2022 also reinforces Brazil's commitment to the international treaties, such as the Escazú Agreement, which is in the process of being ratified. In that sense, it represents a necessary step forward in tackling environmental violations committed by companies in Brazil and proposes solutions to fill existing legal gaps and strengthen mechanisms for oversight, transparency and accountability.