WayCarbon celebrates its 20th anniversary and focuses on climate intelligence and natural capital for the next cycle

August 31, 2026 / WayCarbon

The growing regulatory requirements related to climate and sustainability are changing the way companies operate and access markets. As Brazil structures its regulated carbon market and exporters adapt to mechanisms such as the European CBAM, WayCarbon celebrates two decades in business. Throughout this period, the company has tracked the evolution of the climate and ESG agenda and today serves organizations that generate approximately R$2.8 trillion in the Brazilian economy.

From 2006 (when the company was founded) to the present, sustainability has shifted from being viewed primarily through the lens of reputation to becoming an economic and strategic factor. Certain elements and numerical data help illustrate this more pragmatic phase of the agenda in Brazil.

Private investments in sustainability and decarbonization projects in the country reached R$ 48.2 billion in 2025, according to a survey by Amcham Brasil. This figure represents a 24.2% increase compared to the total recorded in 2024.

In addition, projections from the Secretaria Extraordinária do Mercado de Carbono, Brazil’s Carbon Market Secretariat, indicate that the implementation of the Sistema Brasileiro de Comércio de Emissões (SBCE), Brazil’s Emissions Trading System, could boost additional economic growth by nearly 6% by 2040 and 8.5% by 2050, while significantly reducing emissions from regulated sectors.

“Twenty years ago, our challenge was to convince companies that climate change should be part of their strategy. Today, this discussion has reached an entirely new level. Climate is already on the agenda of boards of directors, CFOs, investors, and governments,” says Felipe Bittencourt, CEO and Co-founder of WayCarbon.

Even in a regulatory environment marked by ups and downs — such as the recent repeal of mandatory sustainability reporting for publicly traded companies in Brazil — large organizations’ preparation for stricter climate disclosure standards has already led to significant internal changes.

“We’ve seen in practice that the reporting process acts as a catalyst within organizations. It brings together departments that historically operated in silos and brings to light material risks that were often overlooked in traditional decision-making processes,” says Henrique Pereira, COO and Co-founder of WayCarbon.

From inventory to strategy

WayCarbon’s trajectory aligns with the major shifts in the climate agenda in Brazil and around the world. The company originated in academic and scientific circles and expanded its scope as topics such as emissions inventories, reduction targets, climate risks, sustainable finance, and — more recently — adaptation and natural capital became part of organizations’ strategies.

The company provided technical support for initiatives related to the establishment of Brazil’s regulated carbon market and the development of the Plano Clima (Brazilian climate transition plan), in addition to serving on the technical advisory board of the SBTi (Science Based Targets initiative), an international initiative focused on developing scientific benchmarks for corporate decarbonization targets.

As part of this journey, the company received an investment from the Santander Group in 2022 to accelerate the expansion of its solutions and began developing its own carbon projects. This period helped strengthen the company’s governance and its capacity to generate impact.

In 2025, a new cycle began with the founders’ repurchase of operational control and the decision to focus its strategy on its core business: consulting and technology solutions to support companies, financial institutions, and governments in their climate change and sustainability agendas. “This period brought significant maturity to WayCarbon and helped us define more clearly where we can generate the greatest value,” says Felipe.

That same year, the consulting firm worked with organizations that, collectively, generate approximately R$ 2.8 trillion, roughly 22% of Brazil’s Gross Domestic Product. Throughout its history, it has served 60% of the country’s largest companies, including all ten of Brazil’s largest corporations, such as Petrobras, Vale, and Cosan.

Technology and scalability

Another milestone marking the business’s maturation was the development of the new version of WayCarbon Ecosystem, a climate and ESG management platform originally created in 2015 in response to challenges identified in the company’s consulting projects.

The solution, formerly known as Climas, was one of the pioneers in this segment in Latin America and currently manages more than 350 million metric tons of CO₂e per year — a volume equivalent to the annual emissions of Portugal and Spain, based on 2023 data from the European Environment Agency (EEA). In June 2026, WayCarbon launched a new generation of the platform, expanding the use of artificial intelligence, automation, and data integration.

The next 20 years: climate risk, adaptation, and natural capital take center stage

For WayCarbon, while the last decade was strongly marked by emissions measurement and decarbonization targets, the coming years are expected to bring greater attention to adaptation, the physical and financial risks associated with climate change, and companies’ dependence on nature.

In this context, biodiversity and natural capital are emerging as key new corporate frontiers. “As natural assets deteriorate, the impacts quickly affect financial results. Exposure to natural capital is often greater than executives and boards realize,” says Henrique Pereira.

Felipe Bittencourt concludes by noting that, while the company helped consolidate the climate and sustainability agenda in the corporate environment over the first 20 years, the next step will be to deepen the integration between climate, nature, and business strategy.

“Our ambition is to offer increasingly sophisticated climate intelligence to guide capital allocation and help companies, financial institutions, and governments adapt to a scenario in which climate and nature-related risks increasingly influence economic performance,” he says.