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DRIVING ACTIVITIES FOR                                                                          en.rolim.com
CLIMATE ACTION IN BRAZIL

By Maria João Pereira Rolim and Rodrigo Sluminsky

What needs to be done to boost decarbonization.

Given its biodiversity, and the fact that it    energy production. In the last ten years,       Low carbon agriculture can establish a new
harbours the largest forest in the world,       solar and wind energy have grown from           way of exploiting natural resources and
Brazil has always been an important             virtually nothing to constituting a fifth of    help halt deforestation. Brazil is responsible
player in the climate agenda. Additionally,     the energy mix. Despite skyrocket growth        for feeding roughly 10% of the world
the connection of Brazil’s indigenous           there is only one small concentrated solar      population. All this potential must be viewed
ancestry with its contemporary culture, its     plant in operation in Brazil and no offshore    with enormous responsibility. There is full
enormous capacity for renewable energy,         wind energy projects to date. Clean energy      capacity to combine sustainable practices
food production, and abundance of natural       infrastructure can lead to leadership in green  with responsible agriculture. Not only using
resources makes the country increasingly        hydrogen production at very competitive         the best practices available in terms of
relevant in the fight against climate change.   costs. There is additionally, a vast potential  crops, but also recovering degraded areas
                                                to be explored in electrification, distributed  and promoting integration with forests.
When it comes to carbon footprint, Brazil       generation, and new technologies.
accounts for less than 1.5% of global carbon                                                    Finally, we are close to establishing a
emissions, and aims to halve its emissions      Brazil could formally establish the largest     regulated carbon market to boost all these
by 2030. Only a fraction of the nation’s        carbon reserve in the world and guarantee       activities.
electricity comes from fossil fuels, and more   enormous conservation of biodiversity.
than half of the territory is still covered by  Recently, the Brazilian government approved     Along with the financial flows, this seems
native forests. Nevertheless, this is not       a bill that remunerates the preservation of     to be a great incentive for another big
enough. It is essential to emphasize Brazil’s   protected areas – which may be used also        move by Brazil towards sustainability.
role in the climate agenda.                     to establish a voluntary carbon market.         All stakeholders must be on this journey
                                                Currently 2,300 areas have been protected       together. Brazil cannot fail to fulfill its role in
Brazil boasts exponential growth in             under this bill. Yet, these measures are        the decarbonization of the world economy.
disruptive energy systems, with a focus         insufficient and far more will be needed to
towards energy efficiency and renewable         reverse the deforestation curve in Brazil.

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