Propostas desenvolvimentistas e proteção ambiental: o caso do Programa Minas Livre para crescer

Abstract

The Minas Livre para Crescer (MLPC) Program, implemented in the state of Minas Gerais, aims to reduce bureaucracy and stimulate economic growth by simplifying and making administrative processes more flexible. Development-oriented proposals such as this program must be viewed with caution, as they may compromise environmental protection and may even be linked to anti-environmental actions. Thus, this study aims to assess the impacts of the MLPC on environmental protection in the state of Minas Gerais. A qualitative, exploratory, documentary, and bibliographic approach was adopted to: map and describe the legal framework surrounding the program, evaluate the regulatory guidelines, and identify potential effects of the program’s implementation on environmental protection, and to critically analyze the regulatory guidelines and the effects of their implementation in light of the foundational principles of environmental law and the debate on sustainable development and anti-environmentalism. The results revealed that the MLPC is embedded in a broad regulatory framework guided by the principles of economic freedom, administrative simplification, and reduced state intervention. Analysis of the guidelines associated with the program highlighted potential benefits related to administrative efficiency and the reduction of bureaucracy, but primarily the risks of weakening mechanisms for environmental control, enforcement, and prevention. In light of the principles of environmental law, sustainable development, and the debate on anti-environmentalism, it was found that these guidelines produce ambivalent effects, revealing tensions between the promotion of economic development and the maintenance of environmental protection safeguards. Based on the findings and the discussion presented, this study demonstrated the importance of improving public policies and legislation to reconcile social and economic development with environmental protection, emphasizing the need to critically analyze the effects of development-oriented actions on the environment.