The scheme is being delivered in partnership with Brazil’s Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC), with funding from the UK’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office.
The proposed scheme will involve the footprinting, certification and labelling of products, initially using pilot studies in four target subsectors with significant environmental impacts: aluminium, cement, chemicals, and pulp and paper. Following the pilot phase the intention is to roll the scheme out across all sectors.
Certification and labelling can improve access for Brazilian businesses to international export markets, where information on the environmental performance of products is either required or an advantage. Domestically it will help businesses meet sustainable public procurement requirements, with legally-binding federal regulations and local government guidance promoting the purchase of green goods and services.
Brazil is in a comparatively strong competitive position globally to meet demand for more sustainable production, as the country currently produces around three-quarters of its electricity from low carbon renewable energy sources, predominantly hydropower.
The Carbon Trust is in Sao Paulo this week hosting a workshop for Brazilian government representatives and industry stakeholders, as the first step in determining the best approach for developing a successful scheme suited to the local economy.
The project builds upon the Carbon Trust’s world-leading expertise and experience in creating sustainable production certification and labelling schemes, with experience in the UK and around the world. This includes the development of the first ever product carbon footprint label, as well as current work taking place on developing new schemes in Malaysia, Mexico and Hong Kong.
Creating a successful certification and labelling scheme to incentivise sustainable production and consumption can deliver a lot of value for both Brazilian businesses and the environment. Understanding the full lifecycle environmental impact of a product does a lot more than just provide competitive advantage – it helps to identify and target areas of inefficiency, unnecessary cost, and environmental impact.
- Dr Paul Taylor, Senior Consultant at the Carbon Trust
Brazil can benefit from a green economy and is therefore interested in internationally accepted certification and labelling processes. Brazilian products have good environmental performances due to natural and systemic factors: Our energy mix is extremely clean and Brazilian companies have historically sought to improve their environmental performance through various means. MDIC participates in this project along with the Carbon Trust as it represents a chance to globally promote the acknowledgement of Brazilian products’ good environmental performance.
- Mr Alexandre Comin, Director of MDIC’s Department for Industrial Competitiveness
For further information please contact the Carbon Trust press office on 020 7170 7050 or email press@carbontrust.com.
About the Carbon Trust
The Carbon Trust is an independent company with a mission to accelerate the move to a sustainable, low-carbon economy. The Carbon Trust:
- advises businesses, governments and the public sector on opportunities in a sustainable, low-carbon world;
- measures and certifies the environmental footprint of organisations, products and services;
- helps develop and deploy low-carbon technologies and solutions, from energy efficiency to renewable power
