Environmental

Carbon Market in Brazil: Regulatory Advances and Current Debates.

The carbon market is advancing as one of the main economic instruments aimed at tackling climate change and has been gaining increasing relevance in Brazil, especially after the enactment of Federal Law No. 15,042/2024, which established the Brazilian Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading System (SBCE). This legislation represents a significant regulatory milestone by establishing the foundations of a regulated carbon market in the country, bringing Brazil closer to models already adopted in international jurisdictions.

In the national context, the main debate involves the practical implementation and sub-legal regulation of the SBCE. In 2026, the Federal Government officially began the operational structuring phase of the system, including the creation of the Extraordinary Secretariat of the Carbon Market (SEMC), linked to the Ministry of Finance, and the establishment of the Permanent Technical Advisory Committee, responsible for supporting the technical regulation of the market.

Brazilian Federal Law No. 15,042/2024 adopts the model known as “cap-and-trade,” through which certain economic sectors will have mandatory limits on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In this model, companies that emit GHGs above the established limits must acquire environmental assets or carbon credits for compensation, while those that reduce their emissions beyond the targets can trade surpluses, encouraging the decarbonization of the economy through market mechanisms and carbon pricing.

Despite this legislative progress, the full operation of the Brazilian regulated carbon market still depends on the issuance of complementary regulations. Among the main points under discussion are: i) the definition of regulated sectors; ii) the criteria for monitoring, reporting, and verifying emissions; iii) certification methodologies; iv) the governance of the SBCE Central Registry; v) environmental compliance rules; vi) operational integration of Brazilian credits at the international level; and vii) operational integration between the regulated market and the voluntary carbon market.

The Federal Government expects the regulation of the SBCE (Brazilian Carbon Trading System) to advance throughout 2026, with the gradual definition of operational rules and the construction of the system’s digital infrastructure. In the business scenario, the topic is consolidating as a strategic agenda, especially for sectors intensive in emissions, financial institutions, exporters, and companies subject to international climate regulations, such as the CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) of the European Union.

¹ However, the development of the Brazilian carbon market does not begin with Federal Law No. 15,042/2024. The topic was already grounded in the National Policy on Climate Change (Federal Law No. 12,187/2009) and in subsequent infra-legal norms, such as Federal Decree No. 11,075/2022, which instituted instruments related to the National System for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Sinare) and established guidelines for Sectoral Plans for Mitigation of Climate Change.

Alongside the advancement of the Brazilian System for the Control of Carbon Emissions (SBCE), the Federal Government has been promoting initiatives aimed at consolidating the sustainable finance agenda. Among these, the implementation of the Brazilian Sustainable Taxonomy stands out. Coordinated by the Ministry of Finance, it aims to create objective criteria for classifying sustainable economic activities aligned with the climate transition. In April 2026, the Federal Government officially celebrated the beginning of the Taxonomy’s implementation, considered strategic for directing green investments, increasing transparency, and strengthening the ecological transformation of the Brazilian economy.

Together, regulatory advancements, the implementation of the SBCE, and initiatives related to the sustainable finance agenda reinforce the strengthening of Brazilian climate policy and position the carbon market as a strategic instrument for the transition to a low-carbon economy and for the country’s sustainable development.

This newsletter is exclusively institutional and informative in nature and presents general normative and administrative aspects related to the topic.

Evelini Oliveira de Figueiredo Fonseca | evelini.fonseca@nascimentomourao.adv.br

Coordinator and Partner of the Environmental, Regulatory and Biodiversity Law area.

Juliana Robles Tasca | juliana.tasca@nascimentomourao.adv.br

Lawyer in the Environmental, Regulatory and Biodiversity Law area.