Rio de Janeiro working with AirCarbon Exchange to establish voluntary carbon credit marketplace in Brazil

NOVEMBER 09, 2021, Abu Dhabi, London, Singapore & Rio de Janeiro –

• The Carbon Trading Exchange Work Group has highlighted the voluntary carbon market’s high growth potential
• AirCarbon Exchange and BlockC have full support from Rio’s city hall to develop a carbon marketplace for Brazil
• The new marketplace is set to launch in 2022

On June 22, 2021, Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes published Decree No. 48.995/21, which started the “Carbon Trading Exchange” Work Group. The Work Group reviewed almost 200 years of work done in Rio de Janeiro in environmental, finance and education sectors by local companies and found that the city’s assets have the potential to be integrated to create value for the whole society by addressing one of the main global issues of this century: “Environmental Responsibility”. 

Through its research, the Work Group found that although the current voluntary carbon market is small and fragmented, it has great growth potential, with a prediction that the market size could grow 100 times by 2030. The Work Group therefore proposed attracting more financial players to grow the local sustainability sector. 

The first step of the proposed plan is for Rio de Janeiro to create a platform to transact environmental assets such as carbon credits by “Rio+30” in June 2022 with full support from Rio’s city hall. In this context, AirCarbon Exchange (ACX), the world’s first fully digital carbon exchange, announced during a COP26 side event on 9 November that a new marketplace for voluntary carbon credits will be launched in Brazil in 2022. Working together with Rio’s Economic, Development and Innovation Department and BlockC, the Brazil Carbon Marketplace (BCM) will utilize ACX’s current market architecture and will leverage ACX’s existing and future network of platforms whereby carbon credits listed on the BCM can be traded on ACX’s other platforms. 

Chicão Bulhões, Rio's Secretary of Economic Development, Innovation and Simplification, said:

“Rio has a history of concern for the environment; Eco92 was the milestone to global climate governance. The city is a pioneer on environmental commitments in the region, having committed to becoming net zero in emissions by 2050. In addition, we have the first and third largest urban forest in the world and a close relationship with nature.”

Carlos Martins, CEO of BlockC, said:

“Support from Brazilian carbon project developers will be essential for the success of the marketplace. In this regard, we have already received great interest and support from local carbon project developers who are extremely excited about this new initiative.”

Juliana Minorello, LATAM Government Affairs & Public Policy Director and Spokesperson for Tembici, said:

“We believe that carbon credits generated by bike usage can be a great driver and encourager of the model, not only to the government with the growing international demand for actions to combat climate change, but also to the users, who will eventually be able to convert these credits into financial benefits through platforms like BCM.”

Miltom Pilão, CEO of Orizon, said:

“The sanitation sector is a major source of methane in Brazil, releasing 90 million metric tCO2e into the atmosphere per year. Orizon believes that through constant innovation and investment, sustainable cities can be bulit to protect the environment. Orizon was the first Brazilian company to generate and sell methane capture credits through the UN Clean Development Mechanism and we believe with this new marketplace, the trading of carbon credits will become much more efficient.”

Manuela Larangeira, CEO of MDC, said:

“MDC’s mission is to create low-carbon energy solutions for its clients, by implementing and operating innovative biogas and biomass projects that reduce significantly the impacts of carbon footprint in our communities. The generation and monetization of carbon credits are central to our strategy and business, and we expect the Brazilian carbon market to become increasingly more active in the short-term as a result of ACX’s initiative and given the country’s crucial role in the global challenge of reducing  greenhouse gas emissions.” 

William Pazos, Managing Director and Co-Founder of AirCarbon Exchange, said:

“Expanding to Brazil has always been at the top of ACX’s growth plan. Brazil is full of potential for generating quality carbon credits. By working directly with Rio de Janeiro and BlockC, we will be at the forefront of providing project developers in Brazil a platform to generate a stream of revenue while doing their part to protect the environment.”