The Senate Environment Committee approved the bill that regulates the carbon market in Brazil. The text was approved on a final basis, eliminating the need for a plenary vote, and should go directly to the Chamber for analysis.
“This is a very important step for Brazil, and can put our country, once again, at the forefront of climate policies, in addition to promoting an increase in jobs and wealth generation, bringing a form of income distribution to more vulnerable areas. Many countries have already developed their public market and carbon pricing policies, but Brazil has not yet. When we create this, we will have yet another tool to combat climate change”, he explains.
During the last few months, Ricci participated in several public hearings to debate PL 412/2022, with the aim of regulating the Brazilian carbon market provided for by Law No. 12,187, of December 29, 2009. With the approval of the Senate, the process starts from scratch in the Chamber, which will revisit the main topics with the analysis of the Environment, Constitution and Justice Committee, among others.
In the Senate, the government's initial proposal underwent changes, such as the removal of primary agribusiness activities from regulation. “This happened because we don’t have benchmark in the world that shows that carbon pricing for primary agribusiness activities, through market mechanisms, is successful. The primary agricultural activity may have its pricing based on other public mechanisms and policies, such as climate financing policies. There is a technical difficulty in measuring and monitoring these emissions, making it difficult for these actors to enter the regulated market”, he adds.
A recurring problem in the public discussion of the carbon market in Brazil is the confusion between the functioning of the regulated market and the voluntary market. Although the voluntary market already works in Brazil, using scientific methodologies based on international certifications of integrity and transparency, the regulation analyzed in the Senate helps to evolve this discussion.
“When there is a regulated market, you create another instance of liquidity for assets, improving sales and prices. Another important aspect is that, when we talk about nature-based solutions, that is, projects carried out in forest areas, this is essential for improving the socioeconomic quality of life in the North region and other areas of Brazil. Our main vector of emissions today in Brazil is deforestation, and when you create ways to price and value standing forests, you have a positive instrument in the fight against climate change”, analyzes Ricci.
With the arrival of the project in the Chamber, the specialist hopes that the methodologies will be improved and gain robustness based on the analysis of other committees. “Legislation needs to improve the guidelines that refer to the autonomy of collective areas and private properties. “Now in the Chamber, legislators have the opportunity to better address the technical and marketing separation between the regulated and voluntary markets, in addition to improving the chapters referring to projects in areas of traditional and indigenous populations, in order to better respect their autonomy and capacity to decision, for example.”
