From April to October, the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) approved around R$7.3 billion for operations under the Climate Fund program, linked to the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change.
Presented this week at the 36th ordinary meeting of the fund’s Management Committee, the amount corresponds to 70% of the amount reserved by the Union to finance climate change mitigation projects.
The approved amount corresponds to 2.5 times the sum of all amounts allocated to the Climate Fund from 2013 to 2023, a total of R$3 billion, in updated figures.
The money made available allows, for example, the development of initiatives aimed at the resilience and sustainability of urban areas and the energy transition, which can accelerate the replacement of fossil fuels, one of the aspects of Brazil most criticized by experts. The expectation is that R$10 billion will be approved by the end of the year.
As highlighted by the president of BNDES, Aloizio Mercadante, 15.2 thousand green jobs were created with the approval of the resources, exceeding last year’s number of 753 by 20 times.
Mercadante also highlighted that R$ 167 million should be used for sustainable fuel production projects, including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and navigation fuel, a definition that demonstrates that Brazil has a window of opportunity to assume a leading position. protagonism in the decabonization process.
“We have been a global leader on the biofuels agenda for more than 50 years and the demand to move into sustainable fuels is very strong. Therefore, we need to at least double the resources of the Climate Fund, as is already foreseen in next year’s budget.”
Of the R$7.3 billion, R$2.7 billion will still have its destination defined by December and the projection for 2025 is around R$11.5 billion.
Another issue highlighted by the financial institution is the expansion of funds for the North and Northeast regions. In the case of the Northeast, the amount approved in the period was 19 times greater than the approvals in 2022, that is, R$1 billion compared to R$51 million.
Volume of emissions
In other words, when trying to understand what the released numbers represent, within the context of goals that Brazil and other countries must achieve, in relation to the Paris Agreement, the answer is that they avoid or remove 3.3 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year. This volume is equal to the total emissions avoided last year (204 thousand tCO2e/year) multiplied by 16.
