DF Brasília Brazil
This is a Direct Action of Unconstitutionality (ADI) with a request for precautionary measures, filed by the Democratic Renewal Party (PRD) before the Supreme Federal Court (STF). The action challenges several articles of Federal Law No. 13,576/2017, which establishes the National Biofuels Policy (RenovaBio), as well as provisions of Decree No. 9,888/2019, ANP Resolution No. 791/2019, and Normative Ordinance No. 56/2022 of the Ministry of Mines and Energy. The party argues that these regulations violate the Federal Constitution, the principles of reasonableness and proportionality, and the commitments undertaken in the Paris Agreement, an international human rights treaty with supralegal force in Brazil.
According to the PRD, the current design of RenovaBio discriminates against fossil fuel distributors by exclusively requiring them to purchase Decarbonization Credits (CBIOs)—under penalty of financial sanctions—to meet annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets. The party argues that this model violates the principle of equality and the "polluter-pays" principle (which establishes that responsibility for pollution lies with the generator, not the state or society), since it holds distributors solely responsible for decarbonizing the entire fossil fuel supply chain, even though other actors (producers, refiners, and importers) also contribute to emissions.
The party further argues that RenovaBio has generated effects contrary to its own environmental objectives, causing inefficiency, regulatory asymmetries, and negative environmental, social, and economic repercussions. Among the impacts cited are increased fuel prices, higher inflation, and greater consumption of fossil fuels, which, according to the party, exacerbates greenhouse gas emissions and contradicts Brazil's international climate commitments. The PRD maintains that the program, in its current structure, does not effectively incentivize emissions reductions or promote a sustainable energy transition, making it an ineffective and regressive public policy from a climate perspective. In its preliminary injunction, the party requests the immediate suspension of the challenged articles until a final judgment is reached. Ultimately, it calls for the total or partial unconstitutionality of the provisions to be declared, or for them to be given an interpretation in accordance with the Constitution, so that the decarbonization goals are proportional, equitable and applied to all agents in the energy sector, guaranteeing transparency and climate balance.
The climate-related elements present in Direct Action of Unconstitutionality (ADI) No. 7596, filed by the Democratic Renewal Party (PRD), focus on the discussion of the effectiveness and climate equity of the RenovaBio program, Brazil's National Biofuels Policy. The case is situated within the framework of the Paris Agreement and the international commitments assumed by Brazil to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 37% by 2025 and by 43% by 2030, through the expansion of the share of renewable energy and biofuels in the national energy mix. RenovaBio was created to fulfill these commitments by establishing mandatory decarbonization targets and creating Decarbonization Credits (CBIOs) as an economic instrument to incentivize emissions reductions. However, the PRD argues that the program's design violates fundamental environmental and climate principles, especially those of equity, proportionality, and equality before the law, by imposing the obligation to purchase CBIOs only on fossil fuel distributors, exempting other agents in the production chain (producers, refiners, importers).
This structure, the party argues, contradicts the "polluter-pays" principle and undermines the objectives of the Paris Agreement by creating an inefficient and regressive public policy with adverse climate effects. The document maintains that the regulatory asymmetry produces negative climate and economic consequences: increased fuel prices, inflation, greater consumption of fossil fuels, and therefore, increased greenhouse gas emissions, which runs counter to the goal of climate mitigation. Furthermore, the CBIO has allegedly become a speculative financial asset, without guaranteeing a real reduction in emissions or an effective expansion of biofuels.
The party argues that current policy fails to meet the “climate additionality” requirement of the Paris Agreement, as it does not generate measurable mitigation results. Consequently, it requests the Supreme Federal Court to conduct a constitutional review of the articles of Law No. 13,576/2017 and related regulations, seeking a redesign of the program to ensure a just and efficient energy transition truly aligned with decarbonization and global climate protection goals.
- Democratic Renewal Party (PRD)
- National Congress
- President of the Republic
- National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP)
- Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME)
The action is not focused on a specific territory, but rather on a national public policy—RenovaBio, the National Biofuels Policy—whose climatic, environmental, and economic effects extend throughout Brazil. However, the case has a more direct impact on the regions that produce and consume fossil fuels and biofuels, especially in the states of the South-Central region, such as São Paulo, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais, and Paraná, where the production of ethanol, biodiesel, and petroleum-derived fuels is concentrated. These areas contain extensive agricultural lands dedicated to monocultures of sugarcane, soybeans, and corn, which supply the biofuels chain. The production model associated with RenovaBio generates environmental pressures on strategic biomes, such as the Cerrado and the Atlantic Forest, contributing to deforestation, biodiversity loss, and soil and water degradation. Likewise, rural communities, Indigenous peoples, quilombola communities, and small farmers are affected by the socio-environmental impacts of agro-energy expansion, such as land grabbing, agrochemical pollution, and reduced access to water. In urban areas, the increased cost of fuel also disproportionately affects the most vulnerable sectors of the population. Therefore, although the primary objective of this action is legal and regulatory, its underlying purpose involves the climate and socio-environmental protection of Brazilian territories, as well as the pursuit of an equitable energy transition that does not exacerbate existing inequalities or ecological damage.
International agreements/treaties
- Paris Agreement
National laws
- Federal Constitution
- Law No. 13,576/2017 (RenovaBio)
- Decree No. 9,888/2019
- ANP Resolution No. 791/2019
- Portaria Regulation No. 56/2022
Beginning
- Principle of prevention
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