Ibama issues El Niño risk guidelines for infrastructure licensing

Ibama, the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, is set to release three guides recommending El Niño risk analysis for the environmental licensing of hydroelectric plants, ports, and transmission lines. These guidelines aim to help projects adapt to the extreme droughts and heavy rainfall expected toward the end of the year.

While current Brazilian legislation does not mandate that licensing include measures to mitigate these specific climate risks, the guides provide recommendations such as structural reinforcement, climate threat inventories (covering heatwaves, floods, and landslides), and site evaluations based on United Nations scientific projections for 10, 30, and 50-year intervals. Although entrepreneurs are not legally obligated to follow these suggestions, Ibama indicates a trend toward increased demands for climate action within environmental licenses to improve resilience for both infrastructure and surrounding ecosystems.