Published
January 24, 2024
In 2024, Brazil will exhibit its global leadership during a critical time for addressing complex challenges. The Lula administration has prioritized its commitments to fighting hunger and poverty, accelerating the energy transition, fostering sustainable bio economies, and reconfiguring the trading system and investment flows to meet developmental needs.
Brazil's leadership in the G20 brings a unique blend of perspectives, ranging from agricultural prowess and environmental concerns to development strategies and global diplomacy. By incorporating perspectives from emerging markets, it has the potential to drive discussions toward sustainable and growth-oriented global policies.
During this pivotal year, the Brazil-U.S. Business Council (Brazil Council) stands as the ideal platform to advance dialogues on these critical issues. Through a strategic partnership that recognizes the essential roles of both the business communities and governments, the Council can harness the strengths of our two nations in achieving our shared priorities.
Brazil’s Global Leadership
Our focus this year centers on supporting Brazil's leadership in global initiatives, notably the G20 presidency and preparing for COP30, which are both flagship programs of the U.S. Chamber.
Firstly, on Brazil’s G20 priorities, our focus will be on the nexus of food security, energy transition and sustainable development. In collaboration with our member companies, we will advocate on a set of principles and specific recommendations before Brazil’s government and other G20 member nations. The Council, in partnership with the U.S. Chamber’s Global Initiative, will lead a series of advocacy dialogues on the margins of the scheduled Ministerial meetings. Our efforts will commence at the B20 Opening Event on January 29 in Rio de Janeiro, followed by a series of high-level meetings in Brasilia with the Sherpas of the various working groups.
Secondly, the Chamber and the Brazilian National Confederation of Industry (CNI) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at COP28 in Dubai to work on effective solutions on the road to COP30, to be convened in Belem, Brazil, in 2025. As Brazil hosts COP30, nations will present their second round of nationally determined contributions (NDCs). Throughout this year and next, our organizations will join forces on climate, energy transition, and nature-based solutions for global impacts.
Brazil’s enormous potential to produce sustainable aviation fuel, renewable power generation, and low carbon hydrogen, combined with its abundance of critical minerals, will require appropriate market signals through government policy. Success hinges on active collaboration between governments and the private sector on policy development and technology deployment, fostering an investment environment that attracts public and private capital. Collaborating with CNI, our objective is to shape a pragmatic COP focused on tangible results, placing private sector investments and solutions at the forefront.
What else is on the agenda?
When President Lula inaugurated his administration just over a year ago, we stated that the U.S. private sector envisioned a forward-leaning, strategic agenda for the two economic powerhouses of the Western Hemisphere. So, let’s delve into the other policy priorities on the agenda for this year.
Structural Reforms:
- Press for an effective implementation of new regulations for tax consumption based on the approved reform by Brazilian Congress in December 2023.
- Call for ongoing measures aimed at tax simplification.
- Support continued structural reforms, aligned with the OECD accession, focused on enhancing the business climate, facilitating market access, improving administrative efficiency, and fortifying the rule of law.
Sustainability:
- Work closely with the Brazilian administration and Congress on bills and regulations related to Brazil’s Ecological Transition Plan, the establishment of a regulated carbon market, and predictability of environmental licensing.
- Advocate for a circular economy and the elimination of non-market access restrictions of remanufactured products.
- Promote U.S. Government’s contribution and participation at the Amazon Fund to drive nature-based investment in the Amazon region.
Energy Transition:
- Exchange information and best practices for regulatory frameworks and economic incentives for emerging industries, including sustainable aviation fuel, low carbon hydrogen, energy storage, and renewable power generation, combined with critical minerals, to reach scalability and commercial viability.
- Support and promote responsible development of oil and natural gas resources.
Agriculture:
- Emphasize the explicit link between food production and environmental sustainability.
- Promote frameworks for modern, climate-smart agriculture that ensure productivity growth, traceability of commodities and livestock, and the adoption of precision agriculture.
- Advocate for unrestricted trade in food and agriculture inputs.
Trade:
- Advocate for the full implementation of the 2020 ATEC chapters on good regulatory practices, encompassing measures such as a central coordination agency, a dedicated website, and regulatory stock analysis.
- Support digitalization of customs processes and documentation.
- Encourage the adoption of non-intrusive customs inspections.
- Call for a supply chain dialogue focused on specific sectors like production/access to critical minerals, input materials, essential chemical inputs, renewable energy technologies, electric vehicles, batteries, fertilizers, medical technology, and pharmaceutical active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), and others.
- Support further revisions on Brazil’s express delivery legislation based on market friendly principles.
Health:
- Promote policies that support the use of digital health technologies and value-based healthcare.
- Advocate for access to the Brazil Health System based on transparency, rule of law and predictability principles.
Innovation:
- Press for increased budget and capacity of the Brazil Patent and Trademark Office (INPI).
- Disseminate the idea of data regulatory protection.
Digital:
- Support reliability, international standards, ethical principles, risk-based approaches, and the avoidance of regulatory overlap related to digital issues. Monitor progress and influence legislative measures related to AI, cyber, digital market, and video on demand.
- Promote bilateral and regional cyber collaboration.
Defense:
- Promote bilateral cooperation and a broad bilateral defense program with the participation of the U.S. private sector.
The Brazil Council, in close partnership with our member companies and stakeholders, look forward to taking the U.S.-Brazil partnership to the next level in 2024.
About the authors
Cassia Carvalho
Carvalho is the executive director of the Brazil-U.S. Business Council. She serves as an adviser for the governments of Brazil, the United States, and others, as well as for multi-national corporations, multilateral agencies, international financial institutions and industry associations.
