Caatinga region to have Brazil’s first carbon credit cooperative

For some time, analysts have pointed to Brazil’s potential to become a major player in the global carbon market. But excessive red tape, gaps in legislation, and an excessive focus on large properties has hindered the country’s progress. Now, one initiative in the heart of Brazil’s Northeast seeks to make the trading of emissions reductions more accessible, creating the country’s first carbon credit cooperative.

The idea for the project surfaced last year through meetings between think tank Centro Brasil no Clima (CBC), environmentalists, and representatives of small landowners in the semi-arid shrubland of the states of Pernambuco, Bahia, Sergipe, and Alagoas — an exclusively Brazilian biome known as the Caatinga. 

During talks, it became clear that there was significant interest in preserving the Caatinga while harvesting the economic rewards of such initiatives. However, because the owners in question command plots of land of between 2 and 3 hectares on average, the carbon credits they generate would be too low.

Banding together in a cooperative, therefore, would give these small landowners a way into the carbon market and keep them...