Brazil's largest carbon lobby group appoints executive director
Quantum Commodity Intelligence - Brazil's largest carbon developers' lobby group has appointed a new executive director with public sector experience, amid an ongoing debate in the country on how to implement a regulated carbon market.
The NBS Brazil Alliance's unveiling of Julie Messias, who previously worked with state governments in the Amazon, as its new director comes after a public request by the group for a bigger role into in negotiations around the Sistema Brasileiro do Comércio de Emissões (SBCE), the country's cap-and-trade system.
"With ample experience in public policies and engagement with the private sector, Julie Messias become executive director to push for nature-based solutions and the carbon market development in Brazil... in a decisive moment of the SBCE regulation," said the group in a statement.
"With more than 15 years working in the Amazon and other biomes, Julie has built a solid career in the public management, private and third sectors, promoting climate governance and nature-based solution," the Alliance added.
Messias, who has never worked for a project developer, has held different positions in the public sector, including Secretary of the Environment of the state of Acre and National Secretary of Biodiversity at the Ministry of the Environment at the federal level.
She has also been Brazil's representative at the Governors' Task Force for Climate and Forests — an organisation made up of several governors across the Americas aiming to promote jurisdictional schemes.
Brazil approved the law 15,042 last December, effectively creating a regulated carbon market, including the SBCE.
The South America nation is currently navigating the first phase of the SBCE implementation, expected to take between 12 to 24 months from the law's approval.
During this phase, methodologies are expected to be approved under which carbon projects willing to sell carbon credits, also named as Certificate of Verified Emission Reduction or Removal, into the SBCE must be developed.
Moreover, Brazilian states in the Amazon are also pushing for their own jurisdictional REDD+ programmes, and Quantum understands developers in the country are still trying to understand which role will they exactly play into those new markets.
"Her profile speaks a lot about the Alliance's priorities," a project developer told Quantum.
Messias will be based in Brasilia and report to Janaina Dallan, partner at the Sao Paulo-based developer Carbonext and the president of the NBS Brazil Alliance, and the group's board.
Apart from Carbonext, NBS Brazil Alliance congregates major players into the Brazilian carbon markets, including Ambipar, Biofix, Biomas, Conservation International, Geonoma, Re.green, Volkswagen Climatepartner and Wildlife Works.
