Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy Opens Public Consultation on Regulation of Sustainable Aviation Fuel

As part of the regulatory framework for the Future Fuels Act (Law No. 14,933/2024), Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy has launched a public consultation on the draft Decree regulating the National Sustainable Aviation Fuel Program (ProBioQAV).

The proposal creates a market-based instrument aimed at decarbonizing the civil aviation sector and establishes a new environmental asset: the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Sustainability Certificate (CS-SAF). The mechanism follows a structure similar to the Decarbonization Certificate under the RenovaBio program and the Biomethane Guarantee of Origin Certificate for the biomethane market.

Under ProBioQAV, greenhouse gas emission-reduction targets will be imposed on airline operators for domestic flights, to be met through the acquisition and retirement of CS-SAFs generated by producers, importers, and blending agents. In summary:

• All sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) produced or traded in Brazil must be accompanied by a CS-SAF.
• CS-SAFs may be sold separately from the physical SAF under a book-and-claim model, in which case the delivered fuel will not carry the environmental attribute to avoid double counting.
• The system will allow CS-SAF transactions in the voluntary market, enabling any economic agent to acquire the certificates and incorporate their environmental attribute into products, processes, or emissions inventories.
• The National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels will define the criteria, methodologies, and procedures for SAF sustainability eligibility and certification, which may follow guidelines from the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation or updated parameters under RenovaBio.
• The National Civil Aviation Agency will oversee compliance with individual targets applicable to airline operators.

The public consultation will remain open for contributions until December 28, 2025.

The Environmental, Climate Change & Sustainability Practice of Tauil & Chequer Advogados, in association with Mayer Brown, is available for further clarifications and to support the preparation of submissions to the public consultation.