Article originally published in the newspaper The globe.
In the 21st century, production and conservation are great allies in the business world.
Much has been regretted about Brazil's withdrawal from hosting the Conference of the Climate Parties (Cop 25) in 2019. However, the indignation should be channeled into the succession of lost opportunities due to the lack of understanding of our potential in the low-income economy. carbon. As Roberto Campos said, “Brazil never misses an opportunity to miss opportunities”.
The climate issue goes beyond this event and is bigger than personal ideologies. Even if one does not believe in human interference in global warming, it is undeniable that the world is moving towards a cleaner economy. Investments are migrating to this new economy, especially those related to technological innovation in the most diverse productive sectors. The option to disbelieve in climate change is often due to economic reasons, market reserves and sector lobbies, as is the case with coal, an important financier of Donald Trump's electoral campaign, a fundamental input in the economies of China and India. However, it is necessary to emphasize: this is not our case.
In Brazil, we have an abundance of natural resources for generating solar, wind and biomass energy, sources that have increasingly lower costs. Our country is home to the largest tropical forest and the greatest biodiversity in the world. If previously the forests were occupied or deforested due to agricultural expansion, in the future, which is increasingly present, the forest will be preserved by the local residents themselves, based on intelligent strategic planning of local development and management. Today, these actions are carried out on a small scale, but they could have enormous economic value, being a source of employment and income not only for the region but for the entire country, based on the value chains generated by local production.
It is necessary to understand that in the 21st century, production and conservation are great allies in the business world. Furthermore, our main agricultural products will increasingly suffer trade restrictions if the climate issue is neglected. In all productive sectors there is a growing demand for reports with information on carbon emissions to highlight risks for shareholders and investors. This is so much a fact that, currently, 25% of global carbon emissions are already associated with some pricing mechanism. The economic world is already operating in this new reality.
Without understanding the strategic importance of climate change for Brazil, whether or not COP 25 will be held in our country becomes irrelevant. Even if no Brazilian believed in human interference in global warming, we should take advantage of the enormous economic opportunity that the issue brings us within the new geopolitics. We only have to win.
Brazil, with its clean energy matrix, its ethanol program, its rich biodiversity, and its forests, has a lot to offer the world. Brazilian protagonism – which is already recognized internationally among experts, authorities and companies involved in the topic – also needs to be recognized in the national territory, in a broad and accessible way by all of society, authorities and other companies that are not directly linked to the topic, but can be benefited indirectly.
Only in this way will it be possible to guarantee the expansion of public policies that allow business to expand even further, it will be possible to gain scale and our companies will be able to operate fully, using the maximum of their potential, generating wealth, taxes and jobs for Brazil.
Marina Grossi He is president of the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development.
Suzana Khan is president of the Brazilian Panel on Climate Change.
