Brazilian Environment Minister says pandemic is “opportunity” to environmental deregulation

Brazil's Environment Minister Ricardo Salles called the Covid-19 pandemic an "opportunity" to further deregulate environmental law without much public attention.

In a video released by the country's Supreme Court, Salles said: “We need to make an effort while we are in this calm moment in terms of press coverage, because they are only talking about Covid, and push through and change all the rules and simplify norms,”.

The video of a ministers’ meeting surfaced during an ongoing investigation of whether President Jair Bolsonaro interfered in appointing leaders of the federal police for personal gain.