This year was highlighted by contributions made to public consultations, warnings about setbacks in the environmental and climate areas, launch of studies and research platforms, and intense international presence.
In 2021, Brazilian Coalition sought to move forward on the forests, land use and climate change agenda, always through dialogue, technical analysis, and public position statements. This year was highlighted by the drafting of contributions to public consultations on these topics, by warnings about setbacks in the environmental and climate areas, by the launch of studies and research platforms, and by intense international performance. Find below ten highlights of the Coalition’s work in 2021.
1. Contributions to the Law that establishes the National Policy for Payment for Environmental Services
In January, law 14.119 was sanctioned, establishing the National Policy for Payments for Environmental Services (PES). The National Policy for PES is the outcome of a broad dialogue with several society representatives, among them the Brazilian Coalition, which contributed to amend critical aspects of the text. However, the sanction came along with presidential vetoes, which compromised matters related to the governance and transparency of the Federal PES Program foreseen under the Law. The Coalition published a technical note* warning about the negative impacts of these vetoes and in March the Congress overrode* most of them. Some vetoes related to tax incentives were also overturned. Meanwhile, Coalition’s PES Task Force is drawing up contributions for the implementation of the law, with the support of a legal consultant hired for this purpose.
2. Launch of the Restoration and Reforestation Observatory
The Restoration and Reforestation Observatory was launched in March by the Brazilian Coalition with support from WRI Brasil, Instituto do Homem e Meio Ambiente da Amazônia (Imazon), Pacto pela Restauração da Mata Atlântica (Pact for the Atlantic Forest Restoration) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC). The platform, a work result of Coalition’s Restoration and Reforestation Monitoring Task Force, brings georeferenced data from restoration, reforestation, and natural regeneration projects. A comprehensive overview of these initiatives will allow Brazil to follow the development of restoration and reforestation commitments undertaken in international initiatives. For private companies, it is yet another tool to track forest product chains, verify compliance with their sustainability policies, and monitor restoration areas for environmental compensation purposes.
3. Advances in silviculture of native species
In April, the Brazilian Coalition launched, with support from WRI Brasil and other institutions, the Program for Research and Development in Silviculture of Native Species (R&DP-SNS), which aims to boost research necessary to make this activity a sector as significant as other areas of agriculture. Over the course of 15 years, R&DP-SNS foresees the implementation of a network of 20 study sites in the Amazon and Atlantic Forest, with species already mapped according to their economic potential.
In addition to the Coalition’s initiative in the area of native species silviculture, it announced the Native Species and Silviculture Working Group (WG Native), a collaboration with the Espírito Santo state government to enable studies and actions for the creation of a native species silviculture hub in the state. The WG was announced in March and the Technical Cooperation Agreement was signed in August.
In December, the study “Reforestation with native species: case studies, economic viability and environmental benefits” was launched, led by Coalition’s Silviculture of Native Species Task Force and with coordination and support from WRI Brazil, which assessed the economic return of 40 cases of reforestation in Brazil, along with the benefits for climate and water security associated with these initiatives. Read more about the survey here*.
4. Mapping the private sector’s use of deforestation data
The survey “How the Private Sector Uses Deforestation Data“, carried out by Coalition’s the Deforestation Data Task Force and released in May, with 60 institutions from the agroindustry and forestry sector, consultancies, research institutions, and governmental and non-governmental agencies, showed that 90% of them assess deforestation numbers when making business decisions. The gaps and doubts that were identified indicate that it is necessary to bring more transparency about the available data, develop informative materials, and carry out training and capacity building for best usage of information. Read here* the interview with Clarissa Gandour, from the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI)/PUC-Rio, Task Force Leader.
5. Brazilian Coalition reaches 300 members
In May, the Coalition reached the milestone of 300 members, including representatives from agribusiness, the financial sector, civil society, and the academia. The movement reinforced* that it is one of the largest spaces for dialogue in the search for harmony between production and conservation, capable of reaching consensus and consent that are important for this agenda’s advancement.
6. Contributions to green finance
In 2021, based on the work of Coalition’s Green Finances Task Force, the Agriculture and Silviculture Dialogue Forum, the Coalition cooperated with the Central Bank’s consultation 82*, which dealt with the creation of the Green Bureau of Rural Credit, and with consultations 85 and 86*, on the regulation of the policy of socio-environmental responsibility and climate risk management. Contributions were also sent to the consultation on the ABC+ 2030-2050 Operational Plan*, released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA), and there were 3 full and 14 partial acceptances*. The Task Force also prepared contributions for the 2021/2022 Safra Plan*, sent to MAPA’s Agricultural Policy Secretariat in early March. The Coalition also took part in the ten-year evaluation of the implementation of the ABC Plan, to which it made contributions via a questionnaire prepared by MAPA.
7. Bioeconomy aligned to the country’s vocation
The Brazilian Coalition, through its Bioeconomy Task Force, established in the scope of the Native Forest Forum, held a series of dialogues to elaborate a concept of bioeconomy aligned with the Brazilian vocation and identity. Furthermore, it concluded that the creation of a national policy on the topic is a fundamental action for the development of the activity in the country, which can become a protagonist by aligning the responsible use of the biodiversity of its biomes, the closeness of traditional peoples and communities with nature, the social capital of family farmers, and the potent capacity for innovation of Brazilian companies in the forestry and agricultural sectors. This vision was made public in September in a position paper.
8. International Strategy
The Coalition has participated in or organized debates at prominent international events. At Climate Week NY, which took place in September, the movement promoted the panel “Climate networks: civil society and private sector initiatives on the sustainability agenda“, which discussed the importance of dialogue between civil society and the private sector to reach the best results on this agenda. In the same month, the Brazilian Coalition was one of the supporters of the digital conference “GLF Amazonia – Tipping Point“* and participated in panels with themes related to bioeconomy, geopolitics and zero deforestation, besides the final plenary session.
9. Acting at COP 26
Throughout the year, the Coalition held six preparatory webinars* for COP 26, in partnership with the newspaper Valor Econômico, to discuss the main points of the national and international climate agenda. The result of the discussions was consolidated in the document “Recommendations for COP 26“, sent to several governmental instances to support the proposals to be presented by Brazil in the Conference.
The movement also maintained an intense agenda of events at COP 26 and the Global Landscapes Forum – GLF Climate. In particular, on November 8, it held, in partnership with the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM), an afternoon of debates about the Amazon and how to reconcile production and conservation. Learn more about the Coalition’s participation at COP 26 here*.
10. Alerts and contributions on environmental licensing, land tenure regularization and other topics
From January to early December 2021, the Brazilian Coalition released 18 position papers, including warnings, recommendations, and contributions, concerning issues that have an impact on the movement’s Vision for the Future, such as: environmental licensing, land ownership regularization, increased climate ambition and deforestation in the Amazon. The most recent positioning refers to the draft bill of the National Policy on Climate Change (PNMC in Portuguese acronym), which, according to the movement, weakens principles, guidelines, commitments, and governance mechanisms that are fundamental to guide the Brazilian climate policy. All position papers are available on the movement’s website.
* The contents found in these URLs are only available in Portuguese.