The climate agenda has been more and more an agenda on economy and development, which provokes an impact on the relation among countries focused on international cooperation. Between Brazil and the European Union, three tools, distinctly conceived, has the environmental issue as a central element: the trade agreement UE/Mercosur, negotiated 20 years ago, as well as two recent unilateral legislations connected to the European effort towards carbon offset: Due Diligence and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
The first is a kind of mandatory audit that renders companies responsible for all of its chain production, by restricting the entry of products linked to deforestation, legal and illegal, such as soy, cacao, coffee and meat into the European Union countries. The second is a surcharge regarding the import of products from outside of the block in order to incorporate the cost of carbon footprint to the final price and it will be applied to steel and iron, aluminum, electricity, fertilizers and cement.
Brazil must be aware: the country has exported US$ 36,5 billion to the EU in 2022, almost half in agriculture and livestock products and it is estimated that the measures can affect 80% of the country’s agricultural exports to the block. Brazilian exporters ought to develop skills to trace and declare its production emission, at the risk of losing markets. If it does not occur, two consequences can be foreseen: the weakening of production segments, in particular small-scale producers, with employment losses in certain regions and reinforcement of social inequalities. Secondly, the creation of a “second class market”, that will provide Brazilians with the products that the developed world does not tolerate.
Three arguments on the subject seem to simplify the debate. The first is negationism, according to which it would be enough to displace the trade to other regions, by ignoring the importance of diversification when it comes to trade balance. The second, in which the measures are an interference to sovereignty, as it ignores its ongoing weakening, due to the national difficulty of protecting territories from illegality. Finally, that the countries that have deforested in the past want to dictate to developing countries how to behave, ignoring that since the Paris Agreement everyone must contribute to a warming world by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Facing the race for decarbonization, public and private decision-makers need to renovate perspectives and understandings on the paths of global businesses. Key importance lies with the parliament: Federal Deputies and Senators, who will receive these discussions, need to get closer to this agenda not only through national interests, but also taking into consideration the impacts on the economy that it will provoke in their regions and, consequently, in their own political strategies.
In tune with a changing world, Political Action Network for Sustainability – RAPS, which is the only multi-party network of politicians in the country relies on 192 elected officials from every position in the politico-ideological spectrum, and it works in order to qualify the federal legislative’s understanding on global themes. Besides being present in the European parliament regarding two opportunities in 2022 in order to debate such issues, the organization just came back from Denmark, where it executed the Political Climate Leadership, which is a program in partnership with the country’s government, through its embassy, and the University of Copenhagen, and it led a delegation of 5 federal deputies for an immersion in climate-related issues such as energy transition and foreign trade.
Facing the trend that trade and business should not be at the expenses of climate, opportunities move around and it is necessary for us to have better seats at negotiations. This is also a duty and responsibility of our legislators.