Proposal by the ministries of Economy, Agriculture, Livestock and Supply and the Environment, to update the Law No. 11,284, of March 2, 2006which deals with the management of forests for sustainable production, the President of the Republic, Jair Bolsonaro, edited this Monday (26) a provisional measure (MP), which changes rules for the management of public forests to boost the carbon credit market in the country.
THE MP No. 1,151, of December 26, 2022published in Official Diary of the Union this Tuesday (27), aims to promote the carbon credit market in the country and take advantage of the potential for conservation of biodiversity in Brazil, which has one of the largest forested areas on the planet, corresponding to 58.5% of native or planted forests in relation to the territory.
With the changes promoted by the MP, in Law nº 11,284, the concession contract for public forests “starts to foresee the right to commercialize carbon credits and non-timber forest products and services, such as: environmental services; access to genetic heritage or associated traditional knowledge for conservation, research, development and bioprospecting purposes; restoration and reforestation of degraded areas; management activities aimed at conserving native vegetation or preventing deforestation; tourism and visitation in the granted area; products obtained from local biodiversity, among others”, informs a note published by the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic.
Carbon credits and environmental services may derive from: the reduction of emissions or the removal of greenhouse gases; maintaining or increasing the forest carbon stock; conservation and improvement of biodiversity, soil and climate; or other ecosystem benefits, according to the National Payment Policy for Environmental Services, instituted by Law No. 14.119/2021??
The MP also provides that the National Development and Social Bank (BNDES) may enable financial agents or fintechs, public or private, to act in financing operations with resources from the National Fund on Climate Change. “Before, only Banco do Brasil, Caixa Econômica Federal and other public financial agents could be qualified”.
“The provisional measure is urgent since Brazil has undertaken the commitment to reduce by 2030 fifty percent of its CO2eq emissions based on 2005 emissions. concessions in forest management units, as evidenced by the progress well below the potential of concessions in forest management units, especially in the Amazon region”, says the note from the General Secretariat.
