Memorandum – Infrastructure (12/07/2013)

Brazil is emerging as a global leader in mining investment, with projections indicating USD 76.9 billion in sector investments between 2026 and 2030. The country holds strategic positions in critical minerals including niobium, graphite, and rare earth elements, while advancing public policies to strengthen mineral value chains and expand local industrial capacity.

Brazil's Decree No. 13,097/2026 opens the free electricity market to approximately 90 million low-voltage consumers, including households and small businesses, marking a transformative shift in how electricity is contracted. The regulation establishes a phased implementation schedule beginning in 2027, with specific requirements for migration between regulated and free contracting environments.

Brazil has enacted comprehensive legislation establishing a National Policy on Critical and Strategic Minerals, creating new regulatory frameworks that will fundamentally reshape how mining companies operate in the country. The law introduces mandatory revenue allocations, a new guarantee fund structure, and a council with broad approval powers over corporate transactions and international agreements.

Brazil's National Civil Aviation Agency has opened public consultation on draft regulations for monitoring and verifying CO₂ emissions from domestic flights under the National Sustainable Aviation Fuel Program. Air operators emitting 10,000 tonnes or more annually will need to comply with escalating emissions reduction targets starting at 1% in 2027 and reaching 10% by 2037, primarily through retiring SAF Sustainability Certificates or alternative compliance mechanisms including lower carbon aviation

The Brazilian National Council on Energy Policy has officially authorized Brazil's oil and gas regulatory body, ANP, to hold the "First Pre-Salt Bid Round" in October of this year, which will be subject to the production sharing regime.

Brazil's agricultural sector faces significant regulatory changes as new legislation introduces tax credits for fertilizer production and ethanol subsidies, while the Ministry of Agriculture updates laboratory protocols and import/export procedures for agricultural inputs. These developments reshape compliance requirements and operational frameworks for agribusiness stakeholders navigating fertilizer manufacturing, biofuel production, and agricultural product trade.

The European Commission has issued recommendations allowing Member States to temporarily suspend fines on fossil fuel importers who fail to meet methane emission reduction obligations under EU Regulation 2024/1787, while Brazil advances its own regulatory framework through the ANP. This three-year grace period (2027-2029) comes amid industry pressure and energy security concerns, even as substantive monitoring and mitigation requirements remain in force. Brazilian producers and exporters face mounting press

The energy transition in Brazil has gained increasing prominence amid the worsening global climate crisis. In 2024, for the first time, the planet recorded a temperature increase exceeding...

Our environment partner Luiz Gustavo Bezerra and associate Gedham Medeiros Gomes, together with Meg Ferreira Cirilo, senior environmental lawyer at Cargill...

Brazil's National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas, and Biofuels has unveiled the largest permanent offer cycles to date, announcing 22 exploration block sectors and 2 marginal accumulation sectors under the concession regime, alongside 13 blocks under the production sharing regime. With public sessions scheduled for October 7, 2026, companies have until August 31, 2026, to submit expressions of interest for participation in these significant oil and gas bidding opportunities.