The 30th United Nations Climate Conference (COP30), which began this Monday (10) in Belém (PA), brought the Amazon to the center of the global climate debate. Focused on accelerating the energy transition, expanding financing, and protecting tropical forests, the event brings together about 50,000 people to turn speeches into concrete plans.

Amid discussions on bioeconomy and new "green commodities," however, a plant with high potential for carbon capture and income generation, Cannabis Sativa, was left out. For experts, the omission represents a political and economic cost for Brazil, the host of the event.

The political cost of ignoring cannabis at COP30

The absence of cannabis in the debate is, above all, a political decision. This is the assessment of Paulo Pereira, a professor of International Relations at PUC-SP and a researcher in international drug policy. According to him, ignoring the plant's bioeconomic potential carries significant weight.

"Brazil ends up absenting itself from a discussion that can articulate three fundamental aspects: sustainability, innovation, and, especially, social inclusion," says Pereira.

For the researcher, the omission exposes a flaw in the conference itself. "In the context of the COP, this absence symbolizes how much the climate agenda continues to look at issues with a very selective morality."

He believes that it would be necessary not only to discuss the plant's biological tools but also the topic from the perspective of drug policy, "which has a huge impact on ecosystems and communities but is not on the agenda," he comments.

What Brazil loses by blocking cannabis

This historical resistance results in tangible losses. The state deputy of São Paulo, Caio França, highlights that the cost of non-regulation is high. "Economically, Brazil loses market and revenues. Studies project sales of around R$ 4.9 billion and R$ 330 million in taxes in the fourth year after regulation," points out the parliamentarian, citing data from a 2024 Institute Ficus report.

In addition to job losses and the diversification of production chains (such as textile, construction, and bioplastics), França points to a direct political cost. "Brazil loses credibility in ESG and climate agendas, affecting the attraction of investors. Being out of the global market for 'green commodities' reduces our influence," he concludes.

Paulo Pereira classifies Brazil's posture not as a strategic "self-exclusion" but as "inaction," motivated by "fear of specific sectors" and reluctance to engage in a serious debate outside the moral realm.

The risk of a "cannabis capitalism" without social justice

Although the inclusion of cannabis in the health agenda has been a recent advancement in Brazil, Paulo Pereira warns that it is still dominated by an "extremely pharmaceutical" and corporate perspective, to the detriment of associations and small cultivators.

The professor warns that a simple transposition of the plant to the environmental agenda, without criteria, can repeat mistakes. The risk, according to him, is falling into a "cannabis capitalism" that merely reproduces the hierarchies seen in other commodities, benefiting large corporations at the expense of local communities.

"The problem is not just excluding cannabis, but how this inclusion could be done," Pereira reflects. "To be consistent with the spirit of the COP, we have to look much more at the community sense, justice, and much less at cannabis as a product," he evaluates.

For him, the environmental agenda of cannabis in Brazil should be connected to social justice, historical reparation for the damages of prohibitionism, family farming, and traditional peoples.

An opportunity to reposition the cannabis debate

Although the topic is not on the main negotiation tables, experts see COP30 as an opportunity to reposition the debate.

Deputy Caio França believes that international pressure and the context of a climate event can help "burst the ideological bubble" that hinders the subject in Congress. "COP30 is politically useful to shift the topic from the moral field to the technical and economic field," says França, arguing that it is necessary to present data on carbon capture and soil phytoremediation.

For Paulo Pereira, Brazil has the potential to go beyond simply entering an already contested market. The country could be a protagonist in creating a new model for the plant, based on climate justice and productive sovereignty.

"Brazil has the potential to point out new paths, but for that, it is necessary to have a plan, a project, and a public dialogue involving all actors," concludes the professor. "It would be a revolution for Brazil to be a protagonist, not only occupying a space in the market but a political space for reflection on this plant in terms of social justice."