Panel SA: Soaring carbon credit could turn into an investigation at Cade

The Ministry of Mines and Energy asked Cade to open an investigation to investigate evidence of infringement in the carbon credits market traded on B3.

The value of bonds, called Cbios, has soared in recent months. The rise puts pressure on gasoline and diesel prices at a time when the government is trying to save consumers on the eve of the election.

Cbio was the model created by the Renovabio program to encourage the production and consumption of less polluting fuels than those derived from petroleum. It is issued by biofuel producers and importers, while fossil fuel distributors have annual decarbonization targets and are therefore required to purchase Cbios to achieve these targets.

The concern now, to be analyzed by Cade, is whether the fuel distributor would buy certificates above its target in agreement with ethanol and biodiesel producers. Thus, such distributors would raise the price of certificates to force their competitors to pay more for them.

At the beginning of the year, medium-sized fuel distributors asked for government intervention in the Cbios market, but were not granted. They already complained about the escalation of quotations, since the mandatory purchase of bonds impacts the costs of the segment.

Joana Cunha with Paulo Ricardo Martins and Gilmara Santos