O Brasil vive uma severa crise ambiental, a qual atinge sua culminância com o desmonte da Política Nacional do Meio Ambiente. As recentes mudanças nas políticas ambientais realizadas desde 2019 pelo governo brasileiro têm sido amplamente repercutidas de maneira negativa nas comunidades científicas nacionais e internacionais, trazendo à tona a importância dos biomas brasileiros para o desenvolvimento sustentável do planeta. Este artigo teve como objetivo investigar e refletir sobre os encontros e desencontros da Lei no. 6.938, de 31 de agosto de 1981, discutindo a Política Nacional do Meio Ambiente na atualidade. Para isso, foi realizada uma pesquisa de caráter exploratório e de abordagem qualitativa, baseando-se em uma revisão de literatura. A análise dos dados foi realizada pelo método de abordagem sistêmico-complexo. Os resultados indicam que houve uma desnaturação da Política Nacional do Meio Ambiente, tornando assim a lei branda e até mesmo ineficaz para a preservação do patrimônio ambiental do Brasil.

With Agenda 21 at Eco92, UN officially named the sustainable human settlements as the best practice in living on social and environmental sustainability basis. It is estimated that today there are around 15,000 sustainable communities around the globe, of which 2,300 are only in Brazil. However, for the most part, these communities do not meet minimum sustainability requirements or transparency criteria in their processes and relationships. The present study aims to reflect on the ISO 14.004 environmental management system as a paradigm guidance for the fulfillment of Agenda 21 purposes. The objective is to verify if the legal requirements presented by ISO 14.004 system meets the Agenda 21 main goals, as well as presenting a proposal for a preliminary socio-environmental evaluation. The present study will be conducted on bibliographical research from books, magazines, articles, websites and scientific papers related to sustainable communities and human settlements in Brazil, and by the examination of the national law, standards, good practices manuals, government and third sector entities documents, with the emphasis being placed on ISO14.004 system. Environmental management is an integral part, and an ongoing process of the overall system of an organization. Environmental management is an integral part of the core business of any organization, and a continuous and systematic process. In this context, to monitor the environmental performance of their processes and manage their own activities, products and services, complying with laws and standards, should be also a goal of any sustainable human settlements in Brazil, mainly through the unique and globally recognized rules, that is, the ISO standards.