Crédito Afeta Desmatamento? Evidência de uma Política de Crédito Rural na Amazônia

This executive summary evaluates the impact of Resolution 3.545, a 2008 Brazilian Central Bank policy that conditioned rural credit in the Amazon Biome on environmental compliance. The study finds that the policy significantly reduced rural credit and subsequently decreased deforestation, particularly in cattle-ranching areas.

• Resolution 3.545, introduced in 2008, required borrowers in the Amazon Biome to provide proof of environmental compliance, land title legitimacy, and rural establishment regularity to access rural credit.
• The policy led to a reduction of approximately R$ 2.9 billion (US$ 1.4 billion) in rural credit between 2008 and 2011. The vast majority of this reduction, R$ 2.6 billion (US$ 1.3 billion), affected loans for cattle production.
• The restriction of rural credit under Resolution 3.545 prevented the deforestation of more than 2,700 km² of forest area between 2009 and 2011, which represents a 15% decrease in deforestation for that period.
• The impact on deforestation was primarily observed in municipalities where cattle ranching is the main economic activity; the policy did not significantly affect deforestation in municipalities dominated by agricultural production.
• The policy had a distributive effect on credit contracts: for cattle production, it reduced the number of medium and large contracts while slightly increasing small contracts. For agriculture, it only reduced the number of medium contracts.
• Small producers, particularly those in the National Program for Strengthening Family Agriculture (Pronaf), were less affected by the policy due to less rigorous requirements and certain exemptions.
• The study suggests that cattle ranchers face significant credit constraints, meaning that policies increasing financial resources (such as payments for environmental services) could potentially lead to higher deforestation rates if not carefully designed.

APA

Assunção, J., Gandour, C., & Rocha, R. (2013). Crédito Afeta Desmatamento? Evidência de uma Política de Crédito Rural na Amazônia. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Does-Credit-Affect-Deforestation-Executive-Summary-Portuguese.pdf

Chicago

Assunção, Juliano, Clarissa Gandour, and Romero Rocha. Crédito Afeta Desmatamento? Evidência de uma Política de Crédito Rural na Amazônia. Climate Policy Initiative, 2013. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Does-Credit-Affect-Deforestation-Executive-Summary-Portuguese.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Assunção |first1=Juliano |last2=Gandour |first2=Clarissa |last3=Rocha |first3=Romero |title=Crédito Afeta Desmatamento? Evidência de uma Política de Crédito Rural na Amazônia |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=January 2013 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Does-Credit-Affect-Deforestation-Executive-Summary-Portuguese.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{assuno2013crdito, author = {Assunção, Juliano and Gandour, Clarissa and Rocha, Romero}, title = {{Crédito Afeta Desmatamento? Evidência de uma Política de Crédito Rural na Amazônia}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2013}, month = jan, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Does-Credit-Affect-Deforestation-Executive-Summary-Portuguese.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }