Company works by searching for areas of the forest experiencing deforestation
By Equipe de Redação
Posted in March 22, 2022
Founded in 2008, Biofílica Ambipar Environment’s mission is to establish a strong and reliable market for environmental services in Brazil by generating and trading carbon credits from Nature-Based Solutions (NBS).
They develop projects that promote carbon emissions reduction and sequestration through forest conservation and reforestation, valuing standing forests and their environmental services while protecting biodiversity.
Furthermore, Biofílica invests in scientific research and socio-economic development of communities living in areas impacted by the projects.
Amazon Rainforest Today
Long referred to as the “lungs of the planet,” the Amazon Rainforest is one of the most important tropical forests and one of the largest carbon reservoirs in the world. It is also the world’s greatest center of biodiversity, housing around 20% of all planetary fauna species. According to Embrapa, there are approximately 30 million species, not including those yet to be cataloged. Despite its magnificence, deforestation continues to significantly affect the region.
Between August 2020 and July 2021, the Amazon experienced the worst assault of the past decade: 10,476 km² of lost area, equivalent to nine times the size of Rio de Janeiro. This represented a 57% increase compared to the previous season.
Policies are needed to protect one of the planet’s largest biomes, which accounts for over 40% of the national territory.
CO2 Calculator
Before implementing policies for a more sustainable culture, a company needs to know where to start. Understanding their carbon footprint is necessary, which refers to the amount of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) released in their daily activities, spanning from product manufacturing to employee commutes.
To address this, Biofílica has created its own carbon calculator. Small and medium-sized enterprises can use it to calculate and receive their emissions inventory, thus discovering their annual carbon footprint.
After the calculation, SMEs can offset their emissions by purchasing carbon credits online, supporting Amazon Rainforest conservation projects.
Carbon Credits
Biofílica implements various projects that generate carbon credits. Here are the three main approaches:
- REDD+: A mechanism proposing a set of actions to combat deforestation through social, climate, and biodiversity activities, resulting in the Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, combined with sustainable management, conservation, and increased forest carbon stocks;
- AR (Afforestation / Reforestation): An approach based on carbon storage in biomass through planting new trees in areas where there was no forest (afforestation) and in areas where deforestation occurred (reforestation), recovering or creating a new forest.
- ALM (Agricultural Land Management): An approach in which sustainable intensification projects in beef farming and agricultural areas lead to carbon reduction.
Moreover, Biofílica’s technical team is in the process of implementing another approach, Blue Carbon, which generates carbon credits through the conservation and restoration of coastal ecosystems such as mangroves, marshes, tidal flats, and seagrass – marine prairies.
It’s important to note that all Biofílica projects are audited and certified by an international market standard. They utilize the VCS (Verified Carbon Standard) and CCB (Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standard) standards from VERRA (www.verra.org), the most widely used certification standard in the global voluntary carbon market. Currently, Biofílica has 11 projects in development and operation.
How Biofílica Operates
Using the REDD+ approach, Biofílica identifies areas in the Amazon under pressure from deforestation and invests in activities focused on forest management and conservation using internationally recognized methodologies. Once projects are structured, external auditors validate and verify activities to generate carbon credits.
Biofílica is responsible for marketing credits in Brazil and abroad, providing solutions for companies looking to offset their emissions.
Furthermore, they establish partnerships in the public and private sectors to expand carbon projects to biomes beyond the Amazon, using the AR (Afforestation/Reforestation), ALM (Agricultural Land Management), and Blue Carbon approaches.
Biofílica can offer this solution on a large scale due to its nearly 15-year presence in the market and a robust portfolio of solutions. Currently, they conserve nearly 1.7 million hectares of forest, representing around 2 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions avoided in the atmosphere each year.
Awards
In 2020, Biofílica won the “The Best Project Developer, Forest and Land use” award for the fourth time from Environmental Finance, a leading communication platform on environmental asset markets worldwide (previous awards were in 2015, 2018, and 2019).
Biofílica is now Biofílica Ambipar Environment
As part of its expansion project for environmental services, Ambipar acquired a stake in Biofílica in July, leading to the name change to Biofílica Ambipar Environment.
Through this, Ambipar adds conservation, reforestation, and Amazon restoration projects, sustainable agricultural and livestock management, and additional GHG management strategies to its service portfolio.
Entry into the Carbon Market
Following the merger with Biofílica, Ambipar strengthens its presence in a segment increasingly attracting companies from various markets. The company was already engaged in the carbon market through the ecosolo project.
Plínio Ribeiro, co-founder and CEO of Biofílica, and the entire team will continue to lead the company.
If you wish to offset your company’s carbon footprint, get in touch with Ambipar’s experts and have all your questions answered.
