By Marina Grossi* –

The engagement of the Brazilian private sector has never been so great for a climate convention. Dozens of Brazilian companies are in Paris to put forward business solutions capable of driving development with lower levels of emissions.

The 21st United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – UNFCCC (COP 21) is acting as a catalyst for a range of private initiatives, such as Brazilian government contributions to the country’s International Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC).

The aim of the Brazilian business sector is to help implement sustainable growth by way of new technology, investment and funding.

With this vision, the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS, in Portuguese acronym) has arrived in Paris with concrete business proposals in which our country is highly competitive in the fields of renewable energy, advanced biofuels, forestry and agriculture, besides materials (cement), in the context of the Low Carbon Technology Partnership initiative (LCPTi), leaded by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).

The input of Brazilian businesses was considered in the global plan of action that is being presented by the LCPTi at COP 21 and that, according to a PwC study, may help to achieve 65% of the goals of the Paris accord.

The CEBDS is also leading a high-level dialogue between the private sector and the Brazilian Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Mines and Energy to pave the way for public-private partnerships in the renewable energy, energy intelligent consumption and mobility sectors. This work is complemented by further action, coordinated locally by We Mean Business, to bring together companies around goals that aim to make the low-carbon economy a good business for the planet.

At this historical point in time, pioneering businesses in Brazil and around the world are not mere observers but active players in the construction of a new low-carbon global economy.

(*) Marina Grossi is an economist and has been president of the Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS) since 2010. She was a Brazilian negotiator at the United Nations Framework Climate Change Convention Party Conference between 1997 and 2001 and coordinator of the Brazilian Climate Change Forum between 2001
and 2003. She also took part in the Kyoto Protocol negotiations.