A Business Initiative on Climate (IEC), formed by the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS) and five other institutions, held on November 13th the side event “The role of carbon pricing mechanisms in achieving NDC – a view of multistakeholders", at the Indigenous People's Pavilion, at COP23. The event discussed the challenges of the Brazilian NDC, focusing on the implementation of carbon pricing mechanisms, and launched the open letter Private Sector Supports Carbon Pricing in Brazil.
The public, who attended the event, was able to follow the perspectives of academia, government, companies and civil society entities on the topic. The president of CEBDS, Marina Grossi, highlighted the engagement of the Brazilian business sector. “In the last three years, Brazilian companies that support carbon pricing have avoided the emission of 31 million tCO2e in their activities, the equivalent of 2% of Brazilian greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2015. We can do much more and we need to act now to achieve long-term low-carbon outcomes,” he said.
She presented the letter of support from the private sector for pricing, prepared by the IEC with support from Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition (CPLC), an initiative of the World Bank. The document, signed by around 25 CEOs and CFOs of large companies and organizations, advocates the establishment of a pricing mechanism suited to the characteristics of the economy and the country's GHG emissions profile. In this way, the aim is to encourage investments, guarantee the competitiveness of companies and stimulate low-emission technological innovation in Brazil.
Everton Lucero, Secretary of Climate Change and Forests at the Ministry of the Environment, stressed that the government is attentive to what he called “positive pricing”. “The pricing concept still needs to develop in Brazil, but we have partners, such as the French government, interested in working on this and helping us. Before implementing a pricing mechanism, we have to consider the impact of this measure on the competitiveness of companies in exports, especially commodities, which represents a large part of Brazilian negotiations”, he pointed out.
Kelly Gallagher, professor of Energy and Environmental Policy at Tufts University, and Easwaran Narassimhanm, consultant at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory of the US Department of Energy, showed different regimes of mechanisms adopted by countries such as Norway and Japan. “The implementation of pricing carbon emissions can be an inclusive process, involving all stakeholders”, replied Gallagher when asked about the position of indigenous peoples on the issue.
Marina Mattar, director of Institutional Relations and Sustainability at Abiquim and co-chair in Mobilizing Business Support from CPLC, spoke about the Coalition's activities and how the global private sector has responded positively to the adoption of carbon pricing mechanisms. Rodolfo Sirol, Director of Sustainability at CPFL Energia, a company associated with CEBDS, brought the energy sector's perspective on the topic and highlighted the importance of mobilizing and engaging companies to adopt pricing in Brazil.
The Climate Business Initiative, proponent of the side event, is formed by CEBDS, CDP, GVces, Rede Brasil do Pacto Global, Instituto Ethos and Envolverde.
What the business sector needs to know about pricing
In her presentation, Marina Grossi also addressed the study Carbon pricing: what the business sector needs to know to position itself, launched by CEBDS in COP22, in partnership with CDP and support from We Mean Business. The publication, available for download free of charge, aims to provide input to companies on the main challenges of implementing the mechanisms in Brazil.
