Program will promote technical assistance and joint projects that generate a positive impact on biodiversity and that are scalable
With the aim of helping companies play a leading role in the protection and management of ecosystems, the CEBDS (Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development) will launch the Platform for Action for Nature, which will have two lines of action, each with a pilot project: Positive Impact and Natural Climate Solutions. The presentation of the program took place today (15), during COP 15, the UN Conference on Biodiversity.
With this release, the Council promotes a pioneering move by the private sector to understand, protect and manage its dependencies and impacts on biodiversity through the collective implementation of new frameworks, scientific targets and international legislation.
The platform was launched in partnership with the WBCSD (World Business Council for Sustainable Development) and the TNFD (Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosure). The pilots will be technically curated by national and international partners, who will support companies in their individual and common journeys.
“With the Platform, CEBDS will support companies that want to be at the forefront of conscious management of biodiversity, using scientific targets and reporting tools. We want to offer associates the possibility of sectoral and territorial alignment of priorities. Brazilian companies understand the urgency and importance of acting immediately and in a coordinated manner”, comments Ricardo Mastroti, executive director of CEBDS.
The first axis, Positive Impact, will feature a group of companies that will collectively implement the nature-related financial disclosure (TNFD) task force.
CEBDS together with TNFD will mobilize and coordinate technical partners to support companies in the implementation of common guidelines and parameters of processes, activities, dependencies and impacts of three sectors: energy, land use (including food, agriculture and forestry) and infrastructure, whose value chains represent around 90% of the pressure on biodiversity.
The group will also develop a geographic overlay map of its dependencies and impacts, prioritizing the most vulnerable territories in terms of biodiversity loss, to collectively define common strategies for shared mitigation actions.
“Alarming data such as the fact that we have 70% in the terrestrial ecosystem and 66% in the marine ecosystem significantly changed, companies need to understand how to mitigate and adapt their processes in a transparent, collective and collaborative way”, adds Henrique Luz, technical manager of CEBDS.
The second axis, Natural Climate Solutions, which will be developed in partnership with the WBCSD, will focus on the Amazon, aiming to generate carbon credits through the promotion of Nature Based Solutions (SbN), which can provide up to 37% of the emission reductions needed to limit global warming at 2°C.
The pilot intends to mobilize a group of companies with commercial activities directly related to forestry, agriculture or other land use. This pilot will also have the technical support of national and international partners both for mapping the quality and integrity of existing solutions based on nature, as well as for their potential for issuing carbon credits.
The group of companies will prioritize support for scalable solutions that bring gains to biodiversity, ecosystem integrity, substantive social impact and economic benefits for indigenous communities and peoples. This pilot aims, fundamentally, to protect against climate risks by improving the resilience and adaptability of landscapes.
“There is a financial and regulatory need for companies to set carbon neutral targets. This journey begins with understanding and decarbonizing the emissions of its operations. However, in many cases, whether due to the nature of its operations or the stage of technological development, 'zeroing' emissions is not possible, thus the demand for voluntary carbon credits grows exponentially. The regulation of this market is making great strides, but the offer of this type of credit is still limited”, adds the technical manager of CEBDS.
Among the companies that have already confirmed their participation in the Platform are: Natura, Petrobras, Vale, Bracell, Suzano, Eletrobras and Renner. Technical partners, in addition to WBCSD and TNFD, are IPAM, ERM, Future Carbon, EY, Biofílica, ReGreen and Nature Climate Alliance.
The program is open until March 2023 for the participation of new interested companies.
