Environment Minister Sarney Filho said this week during a plenary meeting of the Economic and Social Development Council (CDES) that, after two years of growth, deforestation in the Amazon has fallen again in the last three months, indicating compliance with the Paris Agreement.
“As soon as President Temer took office, we restored the budget for the oversight agencies. We obtained even more money through the Amazon Fund, and today the latest data we have – from December, January and February – show that the deforestation curve has started to fall again,” stated Sarney Filho. “Yes, President, we will comply with the Paris Agreement,” added the minister, addressing President Michel Temer and Councilor Marina Grossi.
The minister's speech was a response to the statement made by the councilor, who chairs the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS). A member of the Council since 2016, Marina Grossi highlighted the importance of environmental sustainability for economic development.
“In the past, it was thought that economic actions related to mitigating the harmful effects of greenhouse gases would lead to development constraints and economic contraction. Today, we know that the opposite is true: sustainability is an important lever for increasing efficiency, productivity and, above all, innovation,” said the councilor.
She spoke of Brazil's commitment to reduce emissions by 37% by 2025 and 43% by 2030, based on 2005, following the signing of the Paris Agreement. "To fulfill this commitment, we will need to have a firm commitment to reducing illegal deforestation," she stressed. In the councilor's opinion, companies are capable of overcoming this challenge, but the government also needs to act efficiently in monitoring and provide legal certainty in defining legal frameworks.
Marina Grossi drew attention to the growth in the amount of resources available to finance the low-carbon economy in the world, and argued that Brazil is the country in the best position to attract these resources. “Brazilian companies that have already issued green bonds – BRF, Suzano and Fibra, both domestically and abroad – have seen demand four times greater than supply, with long terms of seven and 10 years,” she said.
She reaffirmed a statement that had already been made at the same meeting by advisor Roberto Rodrigues, that agriculture in Brazil expands through increased productivity and not through the incorporation of new areas. And she cited other examples that sustainability is being taken seriously in the country. “BNDES was the first development bank to cut subsidies for fossil fuels – which is an important signal not only from the Bank, but from the Brazilian State,” she recalled.
For the advisor, monetizing commitments in terms of emissions reduction is a way to make it possible to meet the goals that the country has assumed, in addition to having other positive effects. “Carbon pricing is no longer seen only as an environmental instrument, but also as an important fiscal instrument, which results in a substantial increase in revenue and generates directions for new technologies in sectors of the economy such as energy and transportation,” she commented.
Finally, Marina Grossi argued that, in parallel with the reforms that aim to unlock economic growth, it is necessary to build a long-term strategic vision to maintain achievements and definitively consolidate Brazil as a green power.
Source: CDES
