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The Senate plenary approved, early in the evening of this Wednesday (15), the bill (PL) that establishes national standards for the formulation and implementation of federal, state and municipal climate adaptation plans. The PL 4.129 / 2021 It now goes to the Chamber and, if approved, will be submitted for presidential approval.

This is one of Congress's responses to the tragedy in Rio Grande do Sul. As of 18 p.m., according to Civil defense In the state, there were 149 deaths, 806 injuries, 108 missing, approximately 76 homeless, and 538,1 displaced. In total, 2,1 million people and 452 municipalities were affected in some way. 

In an effort to undermine the government and hinder the vote on measures to combat the climate crisis, the opposition managed to postpone the bill's review from yesterday to today, arguing that it needed further discussion. The government's leader in the Senate, Jaques Wagner (PT-BA), eventually yielded to pressure to return the bill to the Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ), provided it was considered by the plenary today. 

After positioning themselves against the project in the collegiate in the morning, the opposition ended up accepting that the project was symbolically approved in the plenary, with a single vote against from Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), shortly after the senators approved the suspension for three years of the debts of the Rio Grande do Sul government with the Union, also with resistance from the extreme right. 

In the CCJ, as rapporteur, Wagner partially accepted an amendment by Flávio, which explained the participation of the private sector in the formulation and implementation of the national adaptation plan and the need for it to reconcile "environmental protection with economic development." The change was not considered bad by environmentalists. 

PL 4.129/2021 was initially approved in the Chamber, in 2022, and by Senate Environment Committee at the end of February, where the rapporteur was Alessandro Vieira (MDB-SE).

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The CCJ session ended up becoming a platform for the far-right to attack politics and environmental agencies. Environment Minister Marina Silva was one of the targets. The committee's president, Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP), said he will submit a request for the minister to appear before the committee.  

Some senators argued that Bill 4.129 lacks concrete, immediate measures, but they did not present any alternatives. Opposition leader Rogério Marinho (PL-RN) even argued that it would create more problems than solutions by assigning responsibilities to environmental agencies and technicians and requiring civil society participation in the formulation and management of adaptation processes. 

"The bill has no practical effect. It's merely drafting guidelines, a concern to further strengthen environmental agencies," Flávio Bolsonaro said in the plenary.

In fact, the text deals with general guidelines and criteria, but it was included on the priority agenda of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate because it was considered the most comprehensive on the subject under consideration and appropriate to begin preparing for the climate threat.

The advisor to the ISA Ciro Brito explains that the approved text respects the peculiarities of each state and municipality. "The approval of the Adaptation Bill in the CCJ is appropriate, especially at this time when society is understanding and making judgments about climate catastrophes and being urged to reflect on what to do. But we've seen that the debate is not aligned, and that the causes and solutions presented are quite different," he comments. 

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Package of positive projects

Authored by Congresswoman Tábata Amaral (PSB-SP), Bill 4.129 was indicated as a priority by the Climate Observatory (OC) and the Environmental Parliamentary Front among the package of positive projects that Congress should approve in light of the catastrophe in Rio Grande do Sul. The two entities also submitted a list of proposals currently under consideration that should be rejected, the so-called “Doom Package”.

Bill 4.129 requires adaptation plans to be integrated with climate action plans, in accordance with the National Policy on Climate Change (PNMC). Furthermore, municipalities, states, and the federal government must also align mitigation and adaptation strategies with Brazil's commitments under the Paris Agreement, the international treaty addressing the climate emergency. 

The bill also requires municipal and state adaptation plans to prioritize the most vulnerable areas, sectors, and populations, based on criteria of "ethnicity, race, gender, and disability." These actions must be monitored, evaluated, and reviewed every four years. Furthermore, the bill establishes mechanisms for monitoring the adaptation agenda at the three federal levels.

"The approval of PL 4129/21 represents another step towards the adaptation plan, at the federal level, being translated into state and municipal public policies," said Sarah Darcie, coordinator of advocacy of the Election Climate Institute and executive secretary of the Climate Working Group of the Environmental Parliamentary Front. "In a municipal election year and in light of recent extreme climate events, it is more than urgent that the debate on adaptation be addressed by new political leaders," she emphasized. 

"The government needs to stop managing disasters and focus responsibly on adapting cities," said Mariana Belmont, Climate and Environmental Racism advisor at Geledés - Instituto da Mulher Negra (Black Women's Institute). "It's crucial to develop efficient public policies focused on the short and medium term. Adapting to climate change needs to question what kind of society we will have in the future," she added.