*First run in Portuguese on 25th November at Folha de S. Paulo
By Luana Maia, Global Brazil Lead at NatureFinance, and Renata Piazzon, Director General at Arapyaú Institute
Three decades after Rio de Janeiro was the stage for the creation of the United Nations’ international treaties (called Framework Conventions) on Climate, Biodiversity and Desertification, the city saw another historic moment. At the G20 Summit, for the first time, the group comprised of the world’s richest countries – and those also responsible for 80% of greenhouse gas emissions – recognized the potential of the bioeconomy to promote inclusive economic growth.
The ten High-Level Principles on the Bioeconomy, adopted by the group, outline how the bioeconomy can drive sustainable development, balancing economic, social and environmental factors with benefits for nature and people. They also reaffirmed the importance of multilateralism and climate cooperation, reiterating their commitments to the Paris Agreement.
Brazil’s G20 presidency was innovative in introducing nature on the biggest global financial map. G20 members certainly deserve recognition for including, in the final document, initiatives that encourage mechanisms to finance ecosystem services and nature-based solutions.
South Africa, the next G20 rotating presidency in 2025, has announced that it will continue the work of the G20 Initiative on Bioeconomy, created by Brazil and supported by a coalition of organizations from the private sector, academia and society.
Yet, time remains critical – 2024 is on course to be the hottest year in history. The world is facing countless extreme events – the devastating rains in Rio Grande do Sul (which caused R$13.3 billion in damages to municipalities), the series of hurricanes in Florida, and the severe drought affecting riverside communities in the Amazon, a region that plays a key role in regulating the world’s climate.
The Bioeconomy plays an increasingly important role in addressing this new reality. It offers a way to restructure the economy, protecting nature and valuing environmental services, generating jobs and income.
With climate change accelerating, there is an urgent need for action and new forms of climate finance and governance. The time to act is now. We need innovative arrangements, such as blended finance (which combines public and private resources for projects with a positive impact), and the engagement of strategic sectors – financial, private, academia – in the discussion and implementation of effective financing mechanisms for climate and biodiversity.
Every year, US$7 trillion is invested in activities that negatively impact nature worldwide, the equivalent of around 7% of global GDP. This shows that financial institutions and the private sector must be part of the solution, redirecting investments towards activities that protect, manage and restore the environment.
We are aware that this requires robust monitoring and evaluation systems, such as the NatureAlign tool, developed by NatureFinance, which helps institutions and decision-makers to align financial flows with nature positive outcomes.
Despite the rich countries’ lack of appetite for environmental financing, evident at the Climate Conference in Baku (COP29), we believe there is space to advance in the bioeconomy, especially with Brazil leading this movement towards COP30 in Belém, the first in the Amazon. We need to accelerate promising initiatives, such as the carbon market, recently approved in Brazil, and the high-integrity biodiversity credit market. There is no time to leave decisions that should have been made in Baku for Belém.
Even with uncertainties in the global scenario, amplified by the recent United States elections, there is a window of opportunity to advance equitable financing, scaling resources to nature rich countries and sectors with bioeconomy potential. The bioeconomy is not just a possibility, but a reality in more than 60 countries, as shown by The Global Bioeconomy.
Brazil has the potential to become a global leader in this agenda, attracting international investment and technological solutions that will be of example to the rest of the world.
