Brazil could become world’s leading green investments player – Agriculture Minister

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply Tereza Cristina said yesterday, August 2, that Brazil could become the world’s leading green investment player and that her portfolio is working towards this goal.

According to the Minister, data published in the Rural Environmental Register (CAR) analysis, by helping in the implementation of the Forest Code, have the potential to help Brazil to increase resources in the management of green bonds.

“Currently, there is an estimated R$30 (US$5.8) billion in green bond management in Brazil, with great growth potential compared to the US$1 trillion of resources invested in international sustainable funds. Brazil can become the world’s main player for green investments, and the Ministry is working and supporting this,” stressed the Minister while participating in the 20th Brazilian Agribusiness Conference.

The Minister said that Brazil has managed to reconcile productivity with sustainability in the agricultural model it has been developing. She recalled that the Brazilian Forest Service is under her “umbrella” and that progress in the implementation of the Forest Code is among the portfolio’s priorities.

She said that the legislation will be essential for the country to become a leader in the global sustainability agenda, reconciling agricultural production with environmental conservation.

“To this end we have launched the AnalisaCAR tool. Through geoprocessing technology we will be able to advance in the automated analysis of environmental registration, providing legal security and speed in the process.”

Tereza Cristina pointed out that this year’s Crop Plan is “greener,” with the expansion of both the low carbon emission agriculture plan (the ABC Plan) and financing for forest restoration. She highlighted initiatives aimed at generating renewable energy from biogas and biomethane.

“It is important to emphasize that Brazil has developed a tropical agricultural model. As it becomes more productive, it also becomes more sustainable. In the last 10 years we have improved some 50 million hectares of degraded areas using technologies promoted by the low carbon emission agriculture plan, our ABC Plan,” the Minister said.

Infrastructure

In a message sent to participants of the 20th Brazilian Agribusiness Conference, Minister of Infrastructure Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas said that infrastructure must move towards “meeting the needs of agribusiness,” and that it is crucial for investors in agribusiness and infrastructure to meet socio-environmental governance standards.

“That is why we have been investing in the transportation diversification matrix through the promotion of cabotage (coastal vessel) transportation, the promotion of (inland) waterway transportation, and a broad railway program that has contracted some R$30 billion in investments from private initiative.”

“In addition, we are introducing the notion of sustainability to the structuring of our projects. We understand that financial flows will be increasingly linked to environmental standards,” Freitas said.

Food Systems Summit

Having just returned from the Italian capital Rome, where she took part in the preliminary meeting of the Food Systems Summit to be held in September at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Tereza Cristina said that “for the first time there is a single policy advocated by all South American and Caribbean countries,” and that this position has been materialized in 16 key points to be presented at the event organized by the United Nations.

“Our unity was very important for the agenda to be debated and launched in September to include 16 common points,” the Minister said. The messages address issues such as transformation of agrifood systems, consumer demand and nutritional aspects, production strategies and environmental issues and the role of the Americas in this context.

Source: Agência Brasil