Brazil Can Generate R$2.8 Trillion with “Green Economy”, Says WRI Study

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The economic rebound, after the shock triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, could generate two million jobs and add R$2.8 trillion (US$560 billion) to Brazil’s GDP, in addition to helping the country become more resilient to climate change, if investments are directed towards a greener economy.

This would represent a growth of 38 percent in relation to Brazil’s 2019 GDP, which amounted to R$7.3 trillion – it would be like incorporating an Argentina into Brazil’s resources.

This is shown by the study ‘Uma Nova Economia para uma Nova Era’ (A New Economy for a New Era), developed by World Resources Institute (WRI) Brazil, with the collaboration of UFRJ ( Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), former Brazilian Finance Ministers and World Bank executives. The work is part of the New Climate Economy global initiative, which seeks to point out ways to combine economic development with the fight against global warming.

Climate change is expected to cause even greater impacts than the novel coronavirus. As a result, several countries are exploring ways to adopt measures that lead to economic and climate benefits. Building a more efficient and resilient economy would achieve this.

The work focused on concepts that could be implemented in three strategic sectors of the Brazilian economy: infrastructure, industry, and agribusiness. In infrastructure, the concept is to develop “quality projects” – as defined in the study – that are not harmful to the environment. They can use nature’s own resources and renewable solutions, such as solar energy, for instance.

“Quality infrastructure reduces costs and environmental degradation impacts and allows greater resilience to increasingly intense and frequent extreme events,” points out the report.

“In any crisis, investing in infrastructure is generally plan A for employment regeneration. But Brazil has been trying to do that for 30 years. The country will need to attract private, international investment, but how will it do that without a sustainable development seal, without ensuring that a certain public work will not have a socio-environmental conflict,” said Carolina Genin, WRI Brazil’s climate director and the study’s coordinator.

In the industry sector, the proposal is to innovate based on sustainable technologies that reduce the consumption of fossil fuels, which are the main culprits of global warming.

In agriculture, the direction is to increase efficiency through more sustainable land use, reducing the pressure on the Amazon, for instance. A new and significant investment front is the rehabilitation of 12 million hectares of degraded pastures. The estimate is that the sector could achieve R$19 billion in agricultural productivity by 2030.

Together, all the proposed measures could promote a 42 percent reduction in Brazil’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, compared to 2005, according to the survey.

No disruption

The study also considered that a number of policies are now in place in the country that, once implemented, could pave the way for the green economy. “We have clearly shown that if Brazil decides on the transition to a low carbon economy (i.e. that emits less greenhouse gases, responsible for global warming), for a green recovery, this will not be a disruptive process,” says Carolina. “It will not harm the main economic sectors. Rather, it will turn them more productive and efficient than today,” she added.

“There is a window of opportunity that will close within a few months. The rebound plans will force countries to invest a lot of money in this. If we choose the wrong technology, it will remain for the next 30 years. The best plans must be considered so as not to use these resources incorrectly,” she says.

As an example, she mentions investments in transportation. “If we’re going to think about having more buses, they should be electric. It’s an environmental issue, but it’s also a matter of making the economy more competitive,” she says.

Source: Estadão Conteúdo