Can green bonds finance Brazil’s agriculture?

The document examines the gap between Brazil's agricultural importance and its limited use of green bonds for the sector, which has been primarily restricted to forestry and paper. It highlights that while government programs like the Low Carbon Agriculture Program (ABC) exist, they are underutilised due to complex application processes and a lack of understanding among financial institutions. The authors argue that green bonds and securitisation tools like Certificates of Agribusiness Receivables (CRA) could scale sustainable financing by aggregating small loans and attracting international capital.

• Brazil's agricultural sector is a major economic driver, with agribusiness contributing 23.5% of the 2017 GDP and accounting for 44.1% of the country's exports in the same year.
• Green bond issuance in Brazil is heavily concentrated in the energy and sustainable land use sectors, with the latter dominated by forestry and paper. Forestry and paper represent 69% of the sustainable land use sub-sector, while renewable energy is the top overall sector at 40% of cumulative volume.
• Government-led sustainable financing, specifically the Low Carbon Agriculture Program (ABC), has suffered from low utilisation; between 2010 and 2015, an average of only 42.8% of available funds were disbursed.
• Small-scale producers face significant barriers to accessing rural credit, including unclear land ownership rights in remote areas, a lack of technical assistance for documentation, and long delays between application and funding that can exceed one year.
• Existing capital market instruments such as Certificates of Agribusiness Receivables (CRA) and Letters of Agribusiness Credit (LCA) provide a foundation for green bonds; as of September 30, 2018, the LCA market was valued at BRL154.2bn and the CRA market at BRL31.6bn.
• To scale sustainable agriculture financing, the document suggests using CRA receivables ABS to bundle smaller revenue streams as collateral for green bonds, and encourages banks to use green bonds to free up balance sheet capacity for agribusiness lending.

APA

Climate Bonds Initiative (2018). Can green bonds finance Brazil’s agriculture? https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/brazil_agri_finance_briefing_cbi_sitawi_final_eng-web.pdf

Chicago

Climate Bonds Initiative. Can green bonds finance Brazil’s agriculture? 2018. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/brazil_agri_finance_briefing_cbi_sitawi_final_eng-web.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Bonds Initiative |title=Can green bonds finance Brazil’s agriculture? |date=November 2018 |url=https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/brazil_agri_finance_briefing_cbi_sitawi_final_eng-web.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatebondsinitiative2018can, author = {{Climate Bonds Initiative}}, title = {{Can green bonds finance Brazil’s agriculture?}}, institution = {Climate Bonds Initiative}, year = {2018}, month = nov, url = {https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/brazil_agri_finance_briefing_cbi_sitawi_final_eng-web.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }