What is the contribution of the ABC Plan to the Brazilian climate agenda?
10/04/23 - Fernanda Kesrouani Lemos | Rodrigo Lima
low carbon | Bioenergy | Environment | Politics | food safety | Technology | Land Use
Wenderson Araújo/Trilux - CNA/Senar System
The Low Carbon Agriculture Plan aims to reduce emissions and promote sustainable agro-industrial systems.
The Low Carbon Agriculture Plan (ABC) is an initiative to mitigate and adapt to climate changes for the consolidation of a low-carbon economy in agriculture. Approved in 2011, within the scope of the National Policy on Climate Change (PNMC) and before the Copenhagen Agreement, aimed to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) and productivity gains from good practices and management improvements that favor adaptation to the impacts of climate change.
The construction of the Agriculture Sector Plan, which resulted in the ABC Plan, began with a working group coordinated by the Civil House of the Presidency of the Republic and was initially composed of representatives of the federal government: Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (MAPA), Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), Ministry of Agrarian Development (MDA), Ministry of Finance (MF), Ministry of Science and Technology (MCT) and Ministry of the Environment (MMA). Later, other organizations indicated by the Brazilian Forum on Climate Change (FBMC) were incorporated.
From an agricultural production perspective, the adoption of low-carbon practices — such as no-till, biological nitrogen fixation, pasture restoration, crop-livestock-forest integration (iLPF) e waste treatment — allows the adaptation of production systems to the use of agricultural technologies. From an environmental perspective, the efficiency gains promoted by these practices and the restoration of the structure of degraded lands are allies in promoting efforts to reduce deforestation, in addition to reducing emissions.
The ABC Plan can be divided into two phases: the first, completed in 2020, includes Brazil's voluntary actions within the scope of COP-15; the second phase is the so-called ABC+ Plan, which incorporated new technologies and practices to promote the restoration of 15 million hectares of pastures and the adoption of 5 million hectares of iLPF, in accordance with the country's goals for 2025 and 2030. Among the technologies and practices, the incorporation of the promotion of the use of bioinputs, irrigated systems and intensive finishing of animals stands out.
The Brazilian target for mitigation agriculture estimated for the first phase was 36,1% to 38,9% of the total volume estimated for 2020. The first phase of the plan and its program covered 2.785 municipalities in Brazil with different emphasis on practices, due to the conditions of local biomes and regional interests for prioritizing actions.
Figure 1: goals and results of the first phase of the ABC Plan.
To encourage the actions of the ABC Plan, the Program for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Agriculture (Programa ABC) was created in 2010, which is an annual part of MAPA's Agricultural and Livestock Plan. The ABC Program is a subsidized credit policy to finance the plan's practices that favored technological diffusion based on project feasibility plans presented by producers to BNDES, which led this process. Between 2011 and 2020, R$197 billion was allocated, of which R$157 billion was made available through rural credit and R$33 billion as federal government expenses, originating from its general budget.
Figure 2 Credit volumes and interest rates per year.
The ABC Plan, as a sectoral public policy based on metrics, practices and incentives, was essential for the development of sustainable agriculture at the national level. It is considered a public policy that has succeeded in aligning multiple national and international sectoral interests with global goals and agreements of common interest.
References and recommended readings:
More details about the ABC Plan
More details about the ABC+ plan and other practices
Gurgel, AC; Costa, CF; Serigati, FC Low-Carbon Agriculture: The Evolution of a New Paradigm; ABC Observatory. Getulio Vargas Foundation/Agribusiness Center of the São Paulo School of Economics: São Paulo, Brazil, 2013; p. 192.
Wedekin, I. (2021). Alysson Paolinelli: The visionary of tropical agriculture. Metabooks.
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GLOSSARY
It took place during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen and was signed by the United States, China, Brazil, India and South Africa. The text of the agreement recognizes the need to limit the increase in global temperatures to 2ºC above pre-industrial levels. In addition, it provided for financial aid from developed countries to developing countries in the amount of US$30 billion in the first 3 years, so that they can deal with the impacts of climate change. This aid was to reach US$100 billion by 2020. Under this agreement, developing countries were to submit proposals for projects, actions to mitigate emissions, adaptation and capacity building and technology transfer.
It is the conversion carried out by microorganisms of N2 into nitrogen that can be assimilated by plants (reactive nitrogen). This process is essential for the maintenance of life on the planet and is very strategic for agriculture, as it increases soil fertility (a limiting factor in tropical and subtropical soils). The process also reduces risks to the environment due to the reduction of GHG emissions and carbon sequestration by increasing the organic matter content.
These are gases that absorb and emit radiant energy within the thermal infrared range, which leads to the greenhouse effect. The main gases are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and ozone (O3).
It is a sustainable production strategy that integrates agricultural, livestock or forestry activities in the same area, in a process of succession or rotation, seeking synergies between the components of the agricultural ecosystem. iLPF contributes to the recovery of degraded soils and the maintenance of areas, in addition to improving productivity. The strategy can be developed in four modalities: crop-livestock integration (agropastoral), crop-livestock-forestry (agrosilvopastoral), livestock-forestry (silvopastoral) and crop-forestry (silvoagricultural).
It is a phenomenon in which rainfall distribution and temperature change, among other factors related to crop and vegetation cycles that can impact harvests and product quality. Consequences such as major losses due to crop failures due to lack of or excess rainfall, fires, high temperatures and other phenomena can place the local, national or global population in a situation of food insecurity.
This involves moving the soil only at the planting site. The soil cover remains intact (straw), allowing for species diversification and minimizing the time between harvesting and new planting. This type of system is associated with soil and water conservation agriculture, improving fertilization and increasing the soil's organic matter content. Other benefits include reduced production costs, as well as reduced consumption of fossil energy and pesticides.
It is a process of loss of vigor, productivity and the natural recovery capacity of pastures to sustain the levels of production and quality required by animals. Pasture degradation also affects the recovery capacity of the production system in relation to the effects of pests, diseases and invasive plants resulting from inadequate management.
The recovery of pastures in these states and their maintenance of productivity contribute to mitigating greenhouse gases, given that land use changes.
Animal waste treatment means disposing of animal waste and effluents properly, in order to reduce methane emissions. It can also help increase farmers' income, with the organic compost generated or with the automotive, thermal and electrical energy obtained through biogas.
Biodigestion and composting are known processes that allow for the reduction of production costs, by avoiding the consumption of energy and chemical inputs and reducing risks to the environment, such as GHG emissions.
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