COP30: Reflections on Brazil’s MBPS Livestock Blueprint

Brazil’s livestock sector is a global powerhouse. Home to the world’s largest commercial cattle herd and a leader in food production for over 150 countries. Yet our strength comes with a duty: to show that it’s possible to produce more with less: less emissions, less deforestation, and less environmental impact.

That’s the vision captured in the new position paper released by the Brazilian Roundtable on Sustainable Livestock (MBPS) ahead of COP30.

This landmark document lays out a clear and practical roadmap for a low-emission, inclusive, and competitive livestock sector, positioning Brazil as a global model for sustainable food production; provided we adopt technologies and practices that make sustainability measurable, transparent, and profitable.

For Gallagher, this document represents more than policy. It reflects a shared commitment to empowering producers, protecting the environment, and building a resilient future for Brazilian agriculture.

 

Livestock farming as the solution

Our livestock sector, once viewed through the narrow lens of volume and deforestation, is now defining a new narrative: one where productivity, regeneration, and inclusion go hand in hand. The future of Brazilian livestock isn’t just about keeping our beef on the world’s table, it’s about ensuring that table is abundant for generations to come.

When I wrote my previous article, “Mantendo a carne bovina brasileira na mesa,” my focus was on maintaining trust, proving that Brazilian beef could meet the world’s growing expectations for traceability and responsibility.

Today, that conversation has evolved. The challenge is no longer just to maintain access, but to lead through transformation.

The latest position paper from the Brazilian Roundtable on Sustainable Livestock (MBPS) outlines this clearly: livestock can be a driver of climate solutions. Not a source of emissions, but a means to restore degraded lands, balance ecosystems, and strengthen rural communities.

Brazil currently uses just over one-third of its pasture potential. By regenerating soil, integrating trees, and improving livestock and land management, we can boost production without cutting a single new hectare of forest. This isn’t theory, it’s already happening in thousands of farms where sustainability and profitability now grow together.

 

Partnerships, people and progress

Change of this magnitude doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens through collaboration: across borders, across industries, and across the farm gate.

Earlier this year, at Brazil–New Zealand AgroDay 2025, I saw that spirit of partnership in action. Two nations, separated by oceans yet united by purpose, proving that innovation and stewardship can move forward together. Brazil brings scale and biodiversity; New Zealand brings efficiency and precision management. Combined, these strengths form a model for sustainable livestock that balances productivity with care for the land.

That same principle of collaboration must extend across Brazil itself. More than 2.5 million producers drive our livestock industry; most of them small or medium-sized. Their inclusion is vital to turning the MBPS sustainability vision into reality. By working alongside cooperatives, industry groups, and local partners, we’re helping deliver training, technical support, and smart solutions that make sustainability achievable for every producer, not just a few.

 

Technology is the key

The MBPS position paper makes one thing clear: data and transparency are the foundation of sustainable progress.

Brazil’s new National Plan for the Identification of Cattle and Buffalo (PNIB) and the modernization of SISBOV are critical steps toward a fully traceable, integrated livestock system; one capable of connecting fiscal, environmental, and land information into a single, trusted network.

At Gallagher, we see technology as the bridge that makes this vision work in practice. Our role is not to complicate farming, but to simplify it. Helping producers of every scale capture, connect, and use data in ways that strengthen both their businesses and Brazil’s sustainability goals is central to our mission.

By digitizing land and animal information and linking it with national systems like PNIB, we help farmers demonstrate compliance, improve productivity, and access green finance and premium markets. Technology becomes meaningful only when it empowers people to achieve something greater: healthier herds, more resilient pastures, and measurable environmental gains.

 

Brazil’s moment at COP30

As the world gathers for COP30 in Belém, eyes are on Brazil to demonstrate commitment and showcase real results.

The release of the MBPS position paper signals that our livestock sector is ready to act, ready to prove that production and preservation can move forward together. It’s a moment of pride and responsibility.

At Gallagher, we’re proud to stand alongside the producers, researchers, and policymakers who are building this future. Our role is to support, connect, and amplify their efforts; to make sustainability not only measurable, but achievable for every farm.

 

A Future Worth Building Together

The story of Brazilian livestock is no longer about defending our position; it’s about redefining it. By uniting technology, partnership, and a shared purpose, we are proving that the path to sustainability runs through the farm gate; and that those who work the land every day are the true innovators of our age.

The world doesn’t just need more beef. It needs better beef. Beef produced with care for animals, respect for people, and responsibility for the planet. That is the story the Brazilian livestock industry is writing, and Gallagher is honoured to help tell it.