By Luís Bueno*

In just a few weeks, the world will meet itself in Glasgow, UK, for COP26. It will be another opportunity to seek answers and results for one of the greatest challenges of our time: climate change.

We’ve come this far with a certainty. The most recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that the planet will reach or exceed 1.5 °C of warming in the next 20 years, demanding ambitious targets with short-term impact. We cannot wait a few more decades to capture necessary evolutions and changes. 2050 is now.

COP26 inaugurates the future from the bases defined in Paris in 2015. To project this future, it is essential to act collectively, with the mobilization of governments, society and private initiative, engaged around the warning about the increasingly short time for the necessary change of course.

From the negotiating parties, transparency, aggressive goals and convergence around Article 6 of the Paris Agreement are expected for the structuring of a regulated global carbon market.

We, the productive sector, must be part of the engagement, with intelligent choices and disruptive proposals focused on contributing to a low-carbon economy, based on the technological advances of which we are propellers.

Suzano has been acting in this direction. We have targets to remove 40 million tons of CO2 equivalent by 2030; of reducing the intensity of emissions from

15% carbon per ton produced by 2030; and the offer of 10 million tons of renewable products to replace fossil-based materials.

Our innovation fronts focus on solutions based on nature, including the development of textile fibers from biomass, production of lignin for application in resins and the development of biofuels from wood, among others.

Fortunately, we are not an isolated case. The Brazilian private sector has great examples to present to the world thanks to its dynamism and adaptability. These characteristics are part of a permanent culture, which will allow the country to mitigate risks and enhance the economic opportunities of these new times.

In November, Brazil will face a double opportunity: to do what is right to face the climate crisis and to rise to the role of a global protagonist, due to its undeniable vocation as an environmental power that will bring countless benefits to our economy and society.

* Luís Bueno is Executive Director of Corporate Relations of Suzano