Unanimous decision invalidates the requirement of 0.5% of technical reserves by companies in the sector
The Federal Supreme Court declared unconstitutional the rule that obliged insurance companies, capitalization companies, reinsurers and open pension associations to apply part of their technical reserves in the purchase of carbon credits. The decision was taken in the ADI (Direct Action of Unconstitutionality) trial, concluded in a virtual session on Friday (May 29, 2026) and published this Tuesday (June 2), under the report of Minister Flávio Dino.
The device questioned is article 56 of the , which created the SBCE (Brazilian Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading System), the regulated carbon market in the country.
The rule determined that companies in the sector should allocate a minimum percentage of their technical reserves and provisions every year to the purchase of carbon credits or fund shares in these assets. The percentage started at 1% and was reduced to 0.5% by , also in 2024. The STF’s decision reached both newsrooms.
The action was filed by the (National Confederation of Insurers). The association maintained that the rule imposed compulsory investment in assets unrelated to the sector’s activity, posing a risk to the liquidity and security of reserves used to pay compensation.
BURDENS ON INSURANCE COMPANIES
Dino stated that the rule created a disproportionate obligation by imposing on insurers the purchase of carbon credits without a direct relationship between the activity of these companies and the emission of greenhouse gases.
In the vote, the minister said that the choice of the insurance sector as compulsory financier of the carbon market violated the principles of isonomy, free initiative, free competition, reasonableness, proportionality and legal certainty.
For him, the burden of an environmental policy should fall on those who actually contribute to environmental damage, and not on companies chosen simply because they have large financial reserves. Read (PDF — 232 kB)
WHAT COMES NOW
With the decision, article 56 of law 15,042 of 2024 is invalidated, both in the original wording, which provided for a minimum application of 1% of reserves, and in the later version, which reduced the percentage to 0.5%.
Dino stated, however, that Congress can return to the topic, as long as it corrects the unconstitutionalities and adopts technical rules compatible with the safety of the sector and consumers.
