New Carbon Credits law to boost international investment in land in Paraguay

The new Carbon Credits Act, approved by the recently elected President Santiago Peña on 12^th October 2023, creates a Registry which will record every active carbon credit programme in Paraguay. Paraguay is leading this countrywide approach in Latin America.

Paraguay boasts areas rich in biodiversity and natural resources – and under the law, these will be protected for the future while also attracting new carbon and biodiversity focused investment projects.

This will allow the commercialisation of carbon credits in the voluntary market and is a big step forward in enabling Paraguay to utilise its significant carbon capture potential."
Charles Whitaker, Managing Partner.

Global companies can offset their carbon emissions by purchasing land in Paraguay that still has vast areas of intact eco-systems.

It comes as our international team is marketing an institutional-scale land and grass-fed livestock opportunity in such an area.

One of the leading grass-fed cattle Estancias in the Gran Chaco comes with the potential to ‘re-forest’ part of the farm which includes 44,000 ha, freehold and a further 16,000 ha, leasehold land.

The Estancia benefits from established and profitable farming operations with a European senior management team and operates within a European holding company ownership structure.

Adam Oliver, Partner, Agricultural Business Consultancy (International), said: “The new law creates a legal framework that provides security over ownership of carbon credits and aligns Paraguay with international markets.”

Charles Whitaker, Managing Partner, Brown&Co, added: “This will allow the commercialisation of carbon credits in the voluntary market and is a big step forward in enabling Paraguay to utilise its significant carbon capture potential.

“We believe this new legislation will attract long term patient investment capital in land-based carbon capture/carbon credit projects within a stale economic environment with low land values compared with other locations and within an established legal framework.”

Projects will now be overseen and verified through the Registry by Paraguay’s Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MADES.) 

The law also includes measures to safeguard compliance with Paraguay’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), including the obligation to withhold between 3-10% of the carbon credits generated by each project and methods promoting the transfer of knowledge to Paraguayan professionals and technicians.

For more information, contact Adam Oliver on +48 566 211 062 or email adam.oliver@brown-co.pl or Charles Whitaker on +44 1603 629871, email caw@brown-co.com