Low Carbon Agriculture in Brazil: monitoring and governance challenges

• Autor(a) principal: Perosa, Bruno
• Data de Publicação: 2024
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Labor & Engenho (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.sbu.unicamp.br/ojs/index.php/labore/article/view/8674458
• topic: Agricultura de baixo carbono; monitoramento; governança; Sistema MRV; MRV system; Low carbon agriculture; Agricultura de baixo carbono; Sistema MRV

The expansion of agricultural and livestock production in recent decades has led to an increase in emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), such as carbon, methane, and nitrous oxide. In order to mitigate these emissions, a series of productive techniques called Low Carbon Agriculture (LCA) have been adopted and required in various importing markets. The diffusion of LCA fundamentally depends on policymakers and consumers being able to monitor the production process and account for the impact of these techniques on emissions in the agricultural sector. To achieve this, Brazil has been seeking to build a Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) system. This study analyzes the challenges of constructing an MRV for such a vast and diverse agriculture sector as that of Brazil. To do this, international MRV experiences are examined, as well as the MRV instruments being developed in Brazil. It was observed that while many policies for LCA adoption have proven effective, allowing for the achievement of most of the goals established by the ABC Plan (2011), several monitoring and governance difficulties observed during the 2010s need to be addressed in the ABC+ Plan (2021) in order to enhance incentives for farmers. Public credit and market differentiation for foods produced with low carbon techniques depend on improvements in monitoring and governance systems, which represent a fundamental bottleneck for Brazil to achieve its mitigation potential in the agricultural sector.