This is a great opportunity for cooperatives that combine production with sustainability

The road map for leveraging the business of Brazilian cooperatives points towards the urgency of prioritizing sustainability in all projects and activities. The message comes from the United Nations Climate Conference (COP26), which ends this week in Glasgow, Scotland.

Representatives from banks and large investment groups participated in discussion panels at the conference and were emphatic in saying that this is not just a trend. The financing lines for the so-called green economy will only tend to increase in the coming years, especially in emerging economy countries, such as Brazil.

The New Development Bank (NDB), the BRICS bank (the group formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), was created six years ago and already has a project portfolio of R$ 180 billion, 25% of which is related to projects that meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Among the initiatives financed by NDB are a large solar power complex in Brazil, small hydroelectric plants in Russia, and wind farms in China. Billions of dollars more at zero or negative interest in fixed income securities are available for those who present sustainable and environmentally responsible projects.

According to the president of the NBD, Marcos Troyjo, the projects that currently generate interest among investors combine infrastructure and technology. This brings initiatives in the green and digital economy to the fore.

“Bringing green and digital together is important and we need to prepare for this,” Troyjo warned during a panel at the Brazilian pavilion at COP26. For him, it is also necessary to think about a digital green education. “As you transition to a greener economy, you’re going to need more training for people to operate these innovative sectors, like robotics and bioeconomy.”

A WIND OF OPPORTUNITIES

A member of the Brazilian delegation, the president of BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development), Gustavo Montezano, took advantage of COP26 to encourage investors and entrepreneurs to take advantage of the “window of opportunities” opened by the conference. Part of the NDB’s investments in Brazil are made in partnership with the BNDES and, therefore, are aligned with the prioritization of sustainable projects. In other words, initiatives that use, for example, alternative energies and compensate for environmental degradation.

The representatives of the Brazilian public banks are already planning to create incentives and recognition mechanisms for rural producers who contribute to forest preservation. “In the next five years we will give R$120 billion to finance green investments and create carbon credits to remove 19 years of pollution from car use in São Paulo”, said the BNDES president at COP26.

Banco do Brasil’s president, Fausto de Andrade, was in the Brazilian pavilion at the conference and defended the creation of a mechanism to help farmers preserve green areas, which often generate large costs for protection. The bank concentrates most of the rural credit in the country and in the next few years also intends to encourage the implementation of the carbon credit policy in Brazil.