There is virtually no scientific controversy any longer. It will be necessary to contain the increase in the planet's average temperature by 2°C compared to the pre-industrial era to ensure a minimum level of climate security by the end of this century. Based on this premise and all the knowledge accumulated over more than 20 years, the “Brazil Climate, Forests and Agriculture Coalition” has just been launched.
This is a broad and representative synergy formed by business associations, companies and civil society organizations operating in Brazil, which, since the end of last year, have been working on the preparation of a document with a vision and concrete proposals to promote the country as a leading global player in the area of forests and agriculture. The Coalition has two main purposes. The first, short-term, aims to forward to the Brazilian government a set of proposals from the actors involved in the discussion process to be presented at the 21st Climate Change COP, a UN Conference whose agenda is to reach a global agreement on climate change, scheduled for the end of this year in Paris. The second, medium- and long-term, aims to form the basis of a national forest policy, in the context of a low-carbon economy.
The Coalition also has among its actions establishing a long-term vision on global greenhouse gas emissions, suggesting the level of ambition for reducing emissions for Brazil, in addition to proposing mechanisms, elements and increasingly encouraging companies to promote a new low-carbon economy.
A good example is the “Pact for Sustainability” project that Walmart Brazil and its suppliers have undertaken to support the Brazilian Amazon. Among the various actions, they promote the sale of certified wood, restrict the consumption and distribution of soybeans that originate from areas of illegal deforestation, and also commit to not selling livestock products that have any illegality in their chain, especially deforestation.
Examples like this need to be replicated in Brazil and around the world so that they can gain scale and revolutionize development patterns through a new business model. This will be taken and presented as a contribution to the Paris COP.
