By December 2026, the government intends to publish all the infra-legal standards necessary for the adoption of the regulated carbon market in the country, said this Thursday (27) the extraordinary secretary of the Carbon Market at the Ministry of Finance, Cristina Reis.
Created in October, the secretariat will be responsible for structuring the Brazilian Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading System (SBCE), scheduled to come into operation in 2030.
The secretary said that the carbon market has the potential to generate economic opportunities, income and reduce inequalities, but recalled that it is not a “silver bullet” to face the climate crisis.
“This journey lasts almost three years under the current government, but it also involves many years of waiting for the approval of the regulated market law,” he stated.
According to her, the work involves an entire ecosystem, including the public sector, companies, the financial sector, traditional communities and indigenous peoples.
Cristina Reis said that the new structure has an extraordinary character, with a beginning, middle and end, until the government establishes a permanent management body. According to projections cited by her, the carbon market could increase additional economic growth by almost 6% by 2040 and 8.5% by 2050.
According to World Bank estimates, carbon dioxide emissions from regulated sectors could fall by 21% by 2040 and 27% by 2050. The price of a ton of carbon could reach US$30 per ton, rising to US$60 in a second phase.
Studies
The new secretariat’s Undersecretary for Regulation and Methodologies, Ana Paula Machado, informed that the government is conducting studies and a regulatory impact analysis with a focus on expanding the scope of the market and increasing its efficiency. According to her, the Ministry of Finance intends to prepare the Brazilian economy for an international scenario in which carbon pricing is considered irreversible.
“A country like Brazil needs to be equipped to monitor emissions, price carbon in the production process and insert itself competitively on the international scene,” he said.
For her, the State must be prepared to support economic agents in the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Window of opportunity
The executive secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Dario Durigan, stated that the creation of the Extraordinary Secretariat for the Carbon Market takes advantage of a “window of opportunity” opened with the tax reform. He explained that the body will integrate the government’s strategy to strengthen the Ecological Transformation Plan and modernize financing instruments, such as the Climate Fund.
Durigan highlighted that the government has followed a continuous schedule since 2023 to advance the decarbonization agenda.
“The new secretariat is a concrete and fundamental step for us to structure the regulated carbon market in Brazil. This is the first step of years of work”, he stated.
The Treasury assesses that the regulation of the carbon market should stimulate investments in low-carbon activities, contribute to the competitiveness of the industry and support the country’s ecological transition.
