Global promotion expands knowledge about the sustainability of Brazilian coffees

Cecafé's work allows the world's main importers to learn more about the socio-environmental and economic respect of Brazilian coffee farming and opens doors to new world trade rules

On October 25th, the Brazilian Coffee Exporters Council (Cecafé) held a meeting of its board of directors, in a hybrid format, with representatives online and also at the entity's headquarters, in São Paulo (SP). On the agenda were the promotional work carried out by the segment abroad regarding the sustainable aspects of national coffee farming in the face of new international market regulations, mainly the European Union's anti-deforestation law (EUDR, in English).

“Our work has highlighted the example of sustainability that Brazil's coffees are for the world and this has placed us in a prominent and reference position with importers and parliaments of the product's main partner countries. Cecafé advisors understand that this is excellent work and that, due to the achievements obtained, such as the fact that we were chosen by the European Commission as a pilot project and sustainable example for the implementation of EUDR, it must be maintained, helping to promote and encourage respect for the ESG criteria of national coffee farming around the world”, explains the general director of Cecafé, Marcos Matos.

The entity's president, Márcio Ferreira, highlighted the advances in relation to the traceability of Brazilian coffees and the synergy between the links in the production chain in order to expand the activity's global leadership. “Our traceability platform will be a differentiator that will demonstrate our full respect for ESG criteria, contributing to increasing the propositional actions that the entire Brazilian coffee industry has been carrying out worldwide to meet the new demands of global trade”, he comments.

According to Ferreira, the implementation of the EUDR, scheduled for December 2024, will bring new challenges to coffees in Brazil, which, for him, can be transformed into opportunities given the sustainability of the sector. “We are really working in favor of coffee growing and Cecafé has not shied away from being a protagonist, showing, with a speech based on reality, that we can meet the demands of the new international socio-environmental laws and, even, expand market share in global trade in the face of consumption growth”, he explains.

The highlight of the meeting was the approval, by Cecafé advisors, of the advancement of the technical, legal and economic feasibility study of a grouped carbon credit program, in partnership with StoneX and Allcot. “This new phase of the partnership between the entities will deepen the analysis of methodologies, platforms and scenarios of carbon additionality through the adoption of good agricultural practices in coffee farming, aiming to connect with the carbon market”, reveals the Social Responsibility and Sustainability manager at Cecafé , Silvia Pizzol.

The carbon agenda was implemented by Cecafé in 2021, focusing on field research, in partnership with Imaflora and professor Carlos Eduardo Cerri, from Esalq/USP. In the first research, conducted on 40 farms representing the modal production systems of Minas Gerais, it was concluded that the adoption of good agricultural practices in coffee growing in Minas Gerais generates a carbon additionality of 10.5 tons of CO2eq per hectare per year.

The new stage of this research, being carried out in the State of Espírito Santo, is measuring the potential for carbon additionality in coffee farming in Espírito Santo, due to the adoption of good agricultural practices and resulting from the change in land use (transition from pasture to cultivation of conilon coffee ).

“The amount of additionality obtained in the study conducted in Minas Gerais pointed to an opportunity to connect with the carbon market, as an instrument of remuneration for environmental services generated by the adoption of decarbonizing practices. To this end, Cecafé has been building this partnership with StoneX and Allcot, since the beginning of 2023, by carrying out 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 the 'Cafés do Brasil' Carbon Credit Platform”, adds Matos.

The Cecafé board meeting was also attended by the executive director of the International Coffee Organization (ICO), Vanusia Nogueira, who provided a contextualization of the new legislation focused on ESG criteria.

Source: Noticias Agrícolas