Micro and small enterprises (MSEs) will play a central role in Brazil's ability to achieve the climate goals set out in its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), which establishes a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of between 59% and 67% by 2035. Comprising 99% of Brazil's business community, MSEs are essential for the country to achieve a more resilient, regenerative, and inclusive economy, positioning themselves at the center of the transition to a low-carbon economy.

The Brazilian NDC—presented at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan—expands the country's climate ambitions and creates a series of demands for green solutions. These demands, in turn, open up concrete opportunities for SMEs to work in areas such as agroforestry, community-based tourism, the bioeconomy, and the circular economy—sectors that combine sustainability, innovation, and local income generation.

"This commitment requires an unprecedented mobilization of public and private actors, and micro and small businesses are central to this transition," says André Luiz Spinelli Schelini, Technical Director of Sebrae Mato Grosso. "Achieving climate goals depends on social cohesion and the engagement of small businesses, whether in mitigation actions or in adaptation and regeneration practices."

With COP30 in Belém, Pará, Brazil gains a privileged platform to showcase initiatives that connect climate goals to productive inclusion. In this context, the engagement of SMEs will be crucial to the success of these agendas.

According to Schelini, the Brazilian NDC represents a turning point because it demands a new low-carbon and regenerative socioeconomic development model, aligned with structural public policies such as the Climate Plan, the Ecological Transformation Plan, and the Three-Branch Pact for Sustainability. "The challenge is to transform comparative advantages into competitive advantages, making Brazil a global provider of climate solutions," Schelini explained. 

SMEs are key players in this agenda, especially in sectors with greater environmental impact and potential for green innovation. Key opportunities include mitigation and adaptation, which can drive the adoption of clean, low-carbon technologies; business models based on the circular economy, bioeconomy, and environmental services; climate risk management and AI-based technological solutions; among others.