On 23 March, Beijing hosted the 'China-Brazil Cooperation Dialogue on Sustainable Agriculture Business and Green Finance', organised by China-Brazil Business Council (CEBC), the Institute of Finance and Sustainability (IFS), China Chamber of Commerce of Import & Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce & Animal By-Products (CFNA), with support from Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) and the Global Environment Institute (GEI).
This was the first mission of Brazil's Agriculture team under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's government. Carlos Fávaro, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply of Brazil, Dr. Ma Jun, Director of the IFS, and Claudia Trevisan, Executive Director of CEBC, delivered speeches. Nearly 50 guests from Chinese and Brazilian financial institutions, research institutes, industry associations, and trading companies attended the conference to conduct in-depth discussions on investment opportunities for sustainable agriculture and green agricultural standards in China and Brazil.
China and Brazil have established a longstanding relationship over the last ten years, playing a crucial role in addressing climate change and other global challenges such as food security and environmental protection.
The event promoted knowledge exchange and cooperation, aiming to secure a sustainable future for the agribusiness sector in both economies.
Key highlights
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Trade in agricultural products between China and Brazil reached US$53 billion in 2022;
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The exchange between governments, entities, investors and think tanks is crucial for deepening China and Brazil’s partnership;
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The size of Brazil's green agriculture market will grow 10-15 times in 10-15 years;
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Brazil highlighted the importance of providing loans with a lower rate to support green agriculture producers;
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Brazil is advancing industry transition to promote biodiversity and encourage investments from Chinese enterprises, to participate in Brazilian social and energy transition;
Dr. Ma Jun, Director of the IFS and Chairman of the Green Finance Committee
"The cooperation in green finance to support sustainable agriculture between China and Brazil has a bright future. The green finance cooperation in the field of sustainable agriculture between China and Brazil can play a crucial role in reducing the environmental, climate, and ecological footprints of agricultural activities, can promote climate-resilient and nature-positive investments, and can contribute to both countries' implementation of their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and global food security".
Wenhong Xie, Head of China Programme, Climate Bonds Initiative
"There is an opportunity for China and Brazil to scale up actions on climate change. Climate Bonds will promote dialogue and exchanges among Chinese and Brazilian investors, develop common standards for green agriculture in China and Brazil, and actively explore green supply chain finance and trade finance".
The Last Word
Brazil is the main supplier of food to China and the Asian country is the main destination for Brazilian agribusiness exports. It's great to see two of the world's largest agricultural producers putting efforts towards greening its agriculture systems.
We have been actively working on green and transition finance in the agriculture sector, supporting sustainable agricultural activities to access climate finance.
In 2019, CBI began developing green agricultural criteria, which we have since updated in 2021. Our efforts in this area have culminated in the three-year Agricultural and Food System Transition (AFST) programme, launched in 2021. The AFST programme aims to accelerate the capital flow into the agri-food sector, promoting its transition towards a net-zero, resilient, and sustainable system.
We are looking forward to seeing further developments and commitments from both countries towards low-carbon solutions to meet its climate targets.
Till' next time!
Climate Bonds
