The increasingly consolidated interdependent relationship between sustainability and competitiveness was one of the central discussions of the conversation circle on carbon management in supply chains, promoted by the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS), Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and the Center for Sustainability Studies of the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (GVces) on the afternoon of Thursday (13).
Around 40 people attended the conversation, held in the Schneider Electric auditorium in São Paulo, and more than 100 spectators followed the lectures and the presentation online. case from Braskem, one of the pioneering companies in Brazil in the management of greenhouse gas emissions inventory.
“It is very important that we create a new perspective on the economy. There is a need and an irreversible trend for companies to include sustainability in their business strategies,” said Lilia Caiado, coordinator of the Thematic Chambers of Climate and Energy and Sustainable Finance at CEBDS.
Lilia presented the results of a survey conducted with 39 companies, including questions about the relationship between the sustainability and purchasing sectors and the companies’ engagement with their suppliers, for example. She also spoke about the importance of the Paris Agreement as a global movement capable of generating a new market logic. “This whole new space is being created, where Brazil has great advantages,” she said.
Carbon pricing was also a highlight of the meeting. “More than a thousand companies worldwide price carbon or intend to price it in the next 2 years. Decarbonizing investment portfolios is a global movement,” explained George Magalhães, coordinator of the Brazilian GHG Protocol Program. Carbon pricing should generate a new logic of competitiveness. “With the advancement of the low-carbon economy, those who emit the least will become increasingly competitive,” adds Lilia.
Participants highlighted the challenge of reorganizing global supply chains. For Lauro Marins, CDP’s Latin America Supply Chain Program Manager, “companies need to first look at their own businesses and then at their suppliers. Inventory is the first step toward diagnosis, and it also offers ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” he concluded.
