UNDER INVESTIGATION by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Tocantins (MP-TO) for possible environmental damage, the Pedro Afonso Bioenergia mill, a subsidiary of BP Bioenergy located in the municipality of Pedro Afonso, Tocantins state, Brazil, could lose its RenovaBio certification if the allegations are confirmed and found to be related to certified areas or to information provided during the certification process, Brazil’s National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) confirmed to Repórter Brasil.
RenovaBio is the Brazilian government’s national biofuels policy. It allows companies to trade a type of carbon credit known as CBIO (Decarbonization Credit) on Brazil’s stock exchange (B3). CBIOs are calculated based on greenhouse gas emissions allegedly avoided by replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources, such as ethanol, in Brazil’s energy matrix. In 2025 alone, according to the federal government, the financial volume of CBIOs traded reached BRL 2.4 billion.
However, RenovaBio prohibits the certification of mills producing biofuels in areas where recent deforestation has occurred, since the clearing of native vegetation is Brazil’s main source of greenhouse gas emissions.
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Pedro Afonso Bioenergia’s certification is valid until December 1, 2027. The MP-TO investigation concerns possible environmental damage at Fazenda Gorgulho, on the banks of the Tocantins River, allegedly caused by construction works related to a water pipeline intended to irrigate sugarcane plantations and supply the mill.
The allegations include illegal landfilling in a Permanent Preservation Area (APP) and the destruction of natural springs. In addition, another complaint alleges the clearing of approximately 5,000 hectares of native vegetation—the equivalent of about 7,000 football fields—to establish irrigated planting areas.
The MP-TO is awaiting the completion of two expert reports to determine whether Pedro Afonso Bioenergia’s construction works caused environmental degradation at Fazenda Gorgulho.
In a filing submitted to the MP-TO, the company argued that the works at the farm are part of a duly licensed irrigation project, supported by environmental impact studies and water-use permits.
The company reiterated the arguments contained in that filing in a statement sent to Repórter Brasil, but did not answer questions regarding the impacts of the pipeline system or the allegation involving the clearing of 5,000 hectares (read the full response here).
Repórter Brasil found that the BP Bioenergy subsidiary’s mill has recently supplied ethanol to Vibra (formerly BR Distribuidora), Ipiranga and Raízen, Brazil’s three largest fuel distributors. Asked about the case, Vibra said it had requested formal clarification from Pedro Afonso Bioenergia, while Ipiranga said the allegations presented in the report would be investigated internally. Raízen declined to comment (read the full responses here).
ANP and certification body withhold certification details
Neither the ANP nor Benri, the auditing company accredited by the agency to certify the Pedro Afonso mill, told Repórter Brasil whether Fazenda Gorgulho was included in the calculation of the facility’s CBIO generation potential.
That information is crucial because of RenovaBio’s own rules. Under the program’s criteria, only biomass produced on rural properties where no native vegetation has been cleared since November 2018 is eligible to generate CBIOs.
The complaint under investigation by the MP-TO alleges precisely the large-scale clearing of native vegetation in planting areas linked to the Pedro Afonso Bioenergia mill.
In an email response, the ANP said detailed information “cannot be disclosed under the Access to Information Law because it involves personal data and/or information protected by commercial, industrial or business confidentiality.”
Citing “contractual confidentiality obligations,” Benri also declined to provide the information to Repórter Brasil (read the full responses here).
Asked about the consequences if it were determined that sugarcane from an area affected by illegal native vegetation clearing, unlawful intervention in a Permanent Preservation Area, or another environmental violation had been used to calculate the eligible production volume, the ANP said it could revise “the eligible volume, the Energy-Environmental Efficiency Score (NEEA), the CBIO generation factor and, where applicable, the CBIOs themselves issued on the basis of the information originally declared.”
According to Eduardo Trevisan, an expert on agricultural supply chains and biofuels at Imaflora, RenovaBio measures the climate and energy performance of production but does not function as a comprehensive social and environmental certification. “An operation may be certified under RenovaBio while still presenting social or environmental problems that are not captured by the system,” he warned.
Trevisan argues that the biofuels sector should be assessed beyond its carbon balance, with attention to impacts on water resources, native vegetation, communities and territories.
Merel van der Mark, coordinator of the international Forests & Finance coalition, argues that data on product traceability and assessments of production chain impacts should not be kept confidential, and that the lack of transparency hampers public oversight and risk assessment.
She notes, however, that “the lack of data is no excuse for financial institutions not to monitor their clients. Banks and investors can demand greater transparency and traceability,” she said.
Fuel distributors announce measures
Asked by Repórter Brasil, Vibra, a fuel distributor with a history of purchasing ethanol from the BP Bioenergy mill, said that after becoming aware of the information published by the press, it had “requested formal clarification from Pedro Afonso Bioenergia regarding the reported facts.” The distributor added that it is monitoring the case and that, should any irregularities be identified that violate its principles, “the compliance and corporate governance departments will take the measures provided for.”
In its Supplier Manual, Vibra states that companies must adopt “best environmental management practices,” mitigate the impacts of their activities, and comply with applicable legal requirements, “including those related to the location where the goods or services supplied to the company are produced, delivered or performed.”
Ipiranga, in turn, said that the information presented by Repórter Brasil will be investigated internally and that “should any situations requiring action be identified, the appropriate measures will be taken.”
Raízen declined to comment. In its Code of Conduct for Suppliers, Partners and Subcontractors, the company states that “full compliance with environmental legislation” and adherence to “all required environmental permits” are “conditions of the business relationship.” The distributor also provides for penalties in the event of non-compliance with these guidelines, including “termination of the contract or business relationship.”
The distributors’ full responses can be read here.
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