Profile of potential exports affected by the Deforestation Act in Brazil

Abstract

This article discusses the use of trade policy to meet environmental goals based on the deforestation act. It is argued that trade restrictions can play an important role in combating climate change. However, attention must be paid to which countries and individuals will bear these costs, since it is essential that sustainability policies do not represent an obstacle to the social development of countries. It is estimated that, for the Brazilian case, the number of products that would be exposed to the due diligence requirement when the European measure is in force, concluding that the value corresponds to approximately 1% of the national GDP. Furthermore, with data from the study by Pendrill and Persson (2020) it is estimated that, in 2017, more than 80% of Brazilian CO2 emissions from deforestation were caused by the analyzed commodities. Only 2.1% of these are due to sales to the
European Union. The presentation of such numbers indicates the ability of restrictions to combat deforestation, but indicates their insufficiency for this purpose, corroborating the need for policies to value forest stock. Also, such measures would make it possible to dilute the costs of preservation and promote the development of economically less favored nations.