By Sândrya Neves (UFPA/CFC-GS)
The climate crisis has become one of the main challenges of the 21st century, due to extreme weather events and the intensification of meteorological phenomena on a global scale. This reality, directly associated with the increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting from human activities such as changes in land use and land cover, energy generation, and industrial processes, has impacts that are reflected in biodiversity, the economy, food security, water availability, and public health. Given this scenario, it is essential to strengthen instruments that enable development models compatible with climate transition and coordination with mitigation, adaptation, and financing policies.
In this context, the Brazilian Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading System (SBCE) emerges as a decisive milestone in national climate policy in incorporating economic sectors into the context of climate adaptation. Established by Law No. 15,048/2024, the SBCE targets activities, sources, and facilities located in the national territory that emit or may emit GHGs, creating the legal basis for the regulated carbon market in Brazil and allowing the trading of emission credits between companies and productive sectors.
Notably, one of the structuring principles of the SBCE consists of harmonization and coordination between the instruments available for achieving the objectives and targets of the National Policy on Climate Change (PNMC). In addition, compatibility and coordination with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its instruments are envisaged, with special attention to the commitments made by Brazil in multilateral regimes on climate change.
However, its effective integration requires, in addition to consistent technical and scientific reasoning, reliable monitoring and verification methodologies, and the appropriate allocation of financial resources, in order to ensure that the SBCE converts climate goals into measurable and verifiable results. Without this structural foundation, the system runs the risk of becoming an essentially market-driven mechanism, disconnected from the scientific evidence and mitigation and adaptation commitments that guide its creation.
Given this, for the SBCE to achieve its full effectiveness, it is essential that there are structured sources of climate finance capable of supporting the transition of companies and productive sectors to low-emission models. In this regard, national climate funds play a strategic role in building economic sources that enable companies, governments, and communities to adapt to new environmental requirements.
To this end, one of the central features of the SBCE is the economic incentive to reduce or remove GHG emissions. The legislation stipulates that at least 75% of the resources generated by the system must be allocated to the National Fund on Climate Change (FNMC), established by Law No. 12,114/2009, in order to finance investments aimed at decarbonizing activities, sources, and facilities that fall within the regulatory scope of the SBCE itself.
Thus, the synergy between the SBCE and national climate funds may therefore be a new path for strengthening green financing in Brazil. While the SBCE proposes an economic market for emissions reduction, enabling the potential to attract international investments, public and constitutional funds provide the capital base necessary for the implementation of climate actions. This coordination represents an essential step toward aligning Brazilian economic policy with international commitments. However, the success of this integration will depend on the convergence of market mechanisms and public financing instruments, supported by consistent investments in research, innovation, and ecological transition.
