With the creation of the regulated carbon market in Brazil, 2024 ends with good news
The year 2024 ends with good news: Brazil has just joined the more than 50 countries and 40 jurisdictions that have created carbon pricing mechanisms, which today total 110, according to the world Bank. The presidential sanction, in early December, of Law No. 15.042/24 marks the beginning of a new era: that of the regulated carbon market in the country. The creation of the Brazilian Emissions Trading System (SBCE) represents a watershed in our journey towards a carbon-neutral economy, providing additional support for the fulfillment of Brazil's climate goals in Paris Agreement.
The achievement of a regulated carbon market to call our own reflects the international progress of this agenda, which had been negotiated at COPs since the signing of the international treaty in 2015, and finally reached a consensus at COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November. The approval of articles 6.2 and 6.4 of the Paris Agreement paved the way for the implementation of an international market for the purchase and sale of these credits, with clear rules and the approval of the United Nations.
It is also a victory for the vanguard of the business sector, which has been organizing around the issue since 2016 and has contributed with different texts that have been processed in the Legislature. Over the years, the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS) has gathered critical mass, involving the know-how from academia and companies themselves, to provide technical support for this regulation.
We are living in a unique moment in the history of humanity, in which the three serious socio-environmental crises that plague us – the climate emergency, the loss of biodiversity and social inequalities – require a combat strategy. multi-stakeholder. In this sense, the role of institutions that act as strategic articulators between companies, society and public authorities in building a sustainable and desirable future is important. CEBDS seeks to foster these bridges through ongoing dialogue, encouraging companies to attend COPs and producing knowledge: throughout 2024, we will launch 11 publications with in-depth analyses in the areas of nature, climate and society, with the aim of guiding the Brazilian business sector in its environmental, social and governance (ESG) agendas.
The climate and biodiversity COPs, which were once largely restricted to specialized diplomacy, have become diverse events, with a strong presence of civil society and business. From Cali, Colombia, to Baku, Azerbaijan, and even New York, companies had a strong presence. We had 73 representatives from 42 large companies at COP16, which positioned Brazil as a reference in biodiversity. At New York Climate Week and COP29, we echoed the clamor of the global business sector for greater climate ambition, with a position signed by more than 50 large companies, so that the new cycle of commitments by countries, expressed in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), continue to pursue the primary objective of the Paris Agreement, which is to prevent the Earth's average temperature from definitively exceeding the 1.5ºC barrier.
And Brazil scored a great goal in Baku, by being one of the first countries in the world to present the new NDC, aligned with the necessary climate ambition, comprehensive for all sectors of the economy (“economy-wide”, in jargon) and which brings the challenge of reducing emissions between 59% and 67% by 2035, compared to 2005 levels. The new commitments can only be fulfilled with the active participation of the business sector, which is why throughout the year we held meetings of our leaders, in the Leaders' Council, with the high echelons of the climate agenda in the Brazilian government.
Another important contribution from companies in 2024 was to the bioeconomy, a subject incorporated into the agenda of G-20. Under the presidency of Brazil, the group approved the 10 High-Level Principles on Bioeconomy, which provide guidelines to guide diplomatic and commercial discussions on the topic, inserting the bioeconomy into multilateralism. CEBDS participated in the GIB – Support Group for the Bioeconomy Initiative at the G-20, with the delivery of a paper to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which brought an inventory of the bioeconomy in G-20 countries. In addition, CEBDS gathered recommendations from the business sector to create an environment favorable to business and investments in the bioeconomy, aligned with the National Development Plan, in a document called 'Recommendations from the Brazilian Business Sector for the Development of the Bioeconomy', which was delivered to representatives of several ministries during COP16. Since Brazil is a megadiverse country, we believe that the bioeconomy is an economic alternative to generate income from preserved biomes, combat poverty and foster new paradigms in regions with rich fauna and flora.
Now, Brazil is preparing for the COP-30. An event as unique as Rio-92, the UN conference that gave rise to the COPs on climate, biodiversity and combating desertification and placed Brazil in a leading position on the sustainable development agenda. The Brazilian business sector will be part of this joint construction: we signed a memorandum of understanding with the WBCSD, the World Council for Sustainable Development, to pave the way for the Belém meeting, and we continue in dialogue with the Brazilian government and governors of the Legal Amazon to plan and execute the best possible COP.
Let's welcome the world with the colors and flavors of Amazon, while at the same time we are putting the spotlight on the sensitive issues that will guide the conference – the financing needed for developing countries to conduct their energy transition, adaptation and climate justice. The purpose is to engage Brazilian society in this process, with a view to promoting a unique moment in our history, so that Brazil can show the world its vocation to be a protagonist of a new development model, based on a carbon-neutral, equitable and nature-positive economy.
