Coffee exporting sector develops projects and participates in government initiatives to mitigate the effects of climate change

When it assumed the rotating presidency of the G20 (the Group of 20) in December 2023, Brazil announced that it would make the Climate Change agenda one of the priorities of this forum for economic cooperation, in line with the goal of social inclusion and the fight against hunger and poverty.

To implement this agenda, a series of official G20 events will be held in Brazil. On February 26 and 27, the 1st Brazilian Climate Finance Forum was held to discuss the challenges and opportunities for increasing the supply of financial and technical resources for programs to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.

One of the areas eligible for these investments is climate-smart agriculture, which is included in the Ecological Transformation Plan (ETP) launched by the Brazilian government at the 2023 United Nations  Climate Change Conference (COP28) and discussed at the 1st Brazilian Climate Finance Forum.


The ETP includes policies already structured in Brazil, such as the Safra Plan and its initiatives to promote sustainability within the framework of the Low Carbon Agriculture Program, which in its 2023/24 edition includes reduced interest rates for pasture restoration and awards for rural producers who adopt sustainable agricultural practices. It also addresses climate finance measures under discussion in Congress, such as the regulated carbon market.

The G20 Task Force on Global Mobilization Against Climate Change (TF-Clima)1 was also launched as part of the Brazilian G20 presidency strategy. Its first meeting was held in early March with the aim of deepening multilateral technical discussions to further integrate climate change into the international economic agenda, including discussions on the financial instruments to support the necessary transitions to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C this century.

TF-Clima is scheduled to meet four times in 2024, and results will be presented at the G20 Finance and Climate Ministers’ Meeting in Washington, D.C., in October. The work of the TF-Clima is part of Brazil’s strategy to pave the way for a successful COP-30 in Belém in 2025.

Agriculture plays a leading role in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increasing carbon sequestration in soils, while at the same time being a fundamental economic activity for ensuring global food security. There is a long way to go between now and the COP-30 to reach a consensus on what constitutes agri-food systems that are resilient to the impacts of climate change, which promote GHG emission reductions, and that are eligible for climate finance.

1 https://valor.globo.com/brasil/noticia/2024/03/04/brasil-lanca-forca-tarefa-de-clima-no-g20.ghtml
2 https://agroicone.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Artigo-Broadcast-Agro-Fevereiro-2024.pdf

As highlighted in Rodrigo Lima’s article “Agriculture and food systems at COP 282” , the last conference failed to reach a decision within the framework of the “Sharm el-Sheikh Joint Work on Implementing Climate Action on Agriculture and Food Security”. The author also points out that regenerative agriculture has been identified as a solution, as healthy soils are the basis for resilient and viable production systems in the long term.

In the coffee sector, there have been increasing debates on the inclusion of regenerative agriculture practices in coffee production systems, mainly driven by the agendas of large multinational agri-food corporations. Aware of growing consumer demand for healthy and sustainable food and beverages, and the risks to raw material supply posed by climate variability, these companies are embracing regenerative agriculture as a sustainability strategy.

The coffee-exporting sector has been an active participant in these debates, investing in the production of scientific studies to measure the impact of regenerative agricultural practices, already adopted in many coffee production systems in Brazil, on mitigating the effects of climate change.

An example of this is the recent study promoted by Cecafé and conducted by Prof. Carlos Cerri (Esalq/Usp) and the Imaflora Institute, which evaluated the impact of the transition from conventional practices to those that add more organic matter to the soil and maintain it under vegetation cover. The result highlights the magnitude of the environmental benefits associated with Brazilian coffee. The study found a negative carbon balance of around 10.5 t CO2eq/ha of coffee grown. Similar research is now being conducted by Cecafé on Conilon coffee in the state of Espírito Santo.

In line with the climate finance agenda in the spotlight at the G20 meetings, promoted by Brazil, Cecafé has been building a partnership with StoneX and Allcot since the beginning of 2023 and has conducted some preliminary studies, which will now be deepened to measure in more detail the opportunities and challenges that exist in the technical, legal and economic dimensions for the development of a grouped carbon credit program in the Brazilian coffee sector.

In order to contribute to discussions on the government agenda, Cecafé is a member of the Sustainable Agrocarbon Thematic Chamber of the National Agricultural Policy Council (CNPA) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAPA). This forum aims to develop policies that promote food security through productive, environmentally sound, and climate-efficient agribusiness.

At its first meeting, held in early March, the Forum identified the main topics to be worked on throughout 2024 and organized them into working groups: Taxonomy WG; Traceability WG; Carbon Market WG; and Investors WG.

By participating in key global and national forums, providing access to socio-environmental monitoring technologies, promoting scientific studies and training, the coffee export segment, represented by Cecafé, is proactively working to integrate an increasing number of ESG practices into the supply chain.

Marcos Matos
CECAFÉ CEO

Silvia Pizzol
CECAFÉ Sustainability Manager