Lack of carbon market regulations force Brazilian airlines to play catch-up

In 2021, the International Civil Aviation Organization launched a program to rein in the air travel industry’s carbon emissions. Named CORSIA (the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation), it aims to stabilize net carbon emissions from civil aviation around the world at 2019 levels, before reducing net emissions to half of what they were in 2005 by 2050.

By 2027, all airlines must adhere to the program. A total of 107 nations have joined CORSIA already — but not Brazil, as the country has yet to even regulate carbon markets. 

Just before the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26), Brazil’s Congress came up with a bill creating domestic mechanisms for buying and selling carbon credits. In reality, this was a push by congressional leaders to show the world that Brazil was working toward meeting the goals established by the Paris climate agreements —...