Regulation Analysis
Central Bank of Brazil's Sustainability Agenda: What May Change and How Institutions Can Prepare
Update on September 30, 2026: since this article was published, the Central Bank has issued BCB Resolution 586/2026 and BCB Normative Instruction (IN) 772/2026 (published on September 3, 2026, effective January 1, 2027), which overhaul the GRSAC Report and introduce quantitative disclosure. See the BCB SAC Guide.
The sustainable transformation of Brazil's financial system has a new chapter. In July 2025, the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) signaled an update to its Sustainability Agenda, reinforcing the role of regulation in building a more ethical, resilient and transparent sector.
The news comes with concrete measures: the expansion of the Birô Verde (Green Bureau), new public consultations, and the strengthening of rules such as CMN Resolution No. 4,945/2021, which already requires ESG criteria to be integrated into risk management.
This article presents the main points of the new agenda and what financial institutions, especially banks, credit cooperatives and fintechs, should do to adapt.
What is the BCB Sustainability Agenda? Link para esta seção
Created in 2020, the BC Sustainability Agenda (Agenda BC Sustentabilidade) is one of the pillars of the Central Bank's regulatory modernization, focused on:
- Reducing social, environmental and climate risks in the financial system.
- Encouraging ESG transparency and governance.
- Fostering data-driven sustainable credit.
The 2025 update reinforces this commitment with structural actions for the years ahead.
Main initiatives announced Link para esta seção
1. Expansion of the Birô Verde Link para esta seção
The BCB is studying turning the Birô Verde into an official, interoperable database that consolidates credit data with ESG criteria. The idea is to make reliable information on the social and environmental risk of transactions and institutions easier to access.
Practical impact: institutions will need to feed and query this system with standardized, auditable data, which requires sound internal governance.
2. Public Consultation No. 119/2025 Link para esta seção
In May 2025, the Central Bank closed Public Consultation No. 119/2025, which proposed rules for the accounting treatment of assets and liabilities linked to sustainability actions. The text provided for specific rules for transactions such as:
- Green bond issuances;
- Financing conditioned on ESG targets;
- Financial instruments linked to environmental or social indicators.
The goal of the proposal was to ensure clarity, comparability and integrity in the accounting records of these transactions, aligning the Brazilian financial system with international standards such as IFRS S1/S2 and the recommendations of the BCBS (Basel Committee on Banking Supervision).
3. Strengthening of CMN Resolution No. 4,945/2021 Link para esta seção
Already in force, the resolution requires institutions to classify and monitor social, environmental and climate risks based on:
- Assessment by sector and size;
- Continuous monitoring of suppliers and partners;
- Annual disclosure of actions and results.
The new agenda calls for stepped-up supervision and greater emphasis on active ESG risk management.
What does this mean in practice for institutions? Link para esta seção
Financial institutions will need to:
- Build internal mechanisms to collect and analyze ESG data (not only reputational, but also operational).
- Incorporate social and environmental criteria into the onboarding of clients, suppliers and partners.
- Keep documented evidence of how they assess and address ESG risks.
- Develop dashboards and reports that can be audited, whether by regulators, investors or the market itself.
How to prepare proactively Link para esta seção
Institutions that want to get ahead can start by:
- Mapping material topics based on their sector (e.g., cybersecurity in technology companies, climate impact in agribusiness, etc.).
- Reviewing internal policies and adjusting the third-party due diligence process.
- Adopting systems that ensure data traceability and consistency, especially regarding alerts, registration changes and litigation.
- Engaging leadership and areas such as procurement, compliance and risk in the ESG culture.
Support from specialized technology Link para esta seção
Although adopting an external tool is not mandatory, automating ESG monitoring and standardizing criteria significantly increase the ability to respond to the Central Bank's new requirements.
Solutions like ESGreen, which combine ESG Evidence Assessment, cross-checking of public data, automated alerts and API integration, make it possible to scale the process with security and transparency, requirements increasingly valued by regulators and auditors.
Conclusion Link para esta seção
The BCB's new Agenda confirms that ESG is a driver of systemic stability and competitiveness in the financial market. Adapting to the requirements will be unavoidable, and those who start now will be ahead.
The good news is that methodologies, technologies and best practices are already available to make this process less bureaucratic and more strategic. Solutions like ESGreen provide a solid foundation for institutions to start or improve their ESG journey with more governance, predictability and regulatory confidence.