Brazil Unveils Climate Finance Roadmap Ahead of COP30

Brazil, host of the upcoming COP30, has unveiled a roadmap to raise US$1.3 trillion a year by 2035 to help developing countries address the impacts of climate change. At COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, developed nations committed in the final document to providing US$300 billion per year through 2035 to help less developed countries tackle climate change. This goal, known as the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG), also includes a broader target: it calls on all actors to work toward mobilizing US$1.3 trillion in international climate finance over the same period—an amount that specialists say is much closer to what developing countries need.

To advance this goal, a group of diplomats coordinated by André Corrêa do Lago, Brazilian Ambassador and President, COP30, and Mukhtar Babayev, President, COP29 in Azerbaijan, pledged to chart a roadmap to reach this figure. In this context, the Baku to Belém Roadmap was published on Nov. 5, six days later than the initially announced release date of Oct. 30.

The document outlines five priority areas through 2035, each supported by specific action points: replenishment of subsidies, concessional finance and low-cost capital; rebalancing fiscal space and debt sustainability; redirecting transformative private finance and reducing the cost of capital; restructuring capacity and coordination for large-scale climate portfolios; and redesigning systems and structures for equitable capital flows.

Together, these efforts aim to ensure that climate finance reaches at least US$1.3 trillion annually, expanding access for developing countries and strengthening outcomes in key areas such as adaptation, loss and damage, clean energy, nature, food systems, and just transitions. “To accelerate the implementation of the Paris Agreement, climate action must be integrated with concrete economic and financial reforms. With the 5Rs, the roadmap translates scientific urgency into a practical plan for global cooperation and effective results,” said Corrêa do Lago.

Opinions about the plan vary. While some view it as a step forward in fostering cooperation between nations and private investors to align with global climate goals, others consider it insufficient.

Melanie Robinson, Global Director of Climate, Economics and Finance, World Resources Institute (WRI), emphasized that for too long, the climate community has been overly focused on relatively modest amounts of public climate funding. The Baku to Belém plan, she said, rightly shifts the focus toward how a broader set of public finance and policy changes can unlock much larger flows from private investors.

Conversely, Sandra Guzmán, Director, Climate Finance Group for Latin America and the Caribbean (GFLAC), noted that while the document highlights some actions that can be taken, it remains highly descriptive. “We knew it would not go into great depth, but the recommendations ended up being much more general than expected. The roadmap covers many issues, but the way it addresses them is extremely weak,” she told InfoAmazonia.

Carolina Pasquali, Executive Director, Greenpeace Brazil, pointed out that although the roadmap rightly recognizes the gap in concessional finance, particularly for nature and direct access for Indigenous Peoples and local communities, it does not go far enough in holding developed countries accountable. “We still need significantly more public finance for mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage to support developing countries if we are serious about climate justice,” she said.

Meanwhile, Rebecca Newsom, Global Political Expert at Greenpeace International, noted that it is significant that the roadmap identifies new taxes and levies as key to unlocking public climate finance. “Governments must now build on the roadmap through an agenda item at COP30 that drives tangible action on public international climate finance, while sending a powerful signal that they are ready to make polluters pay for the climate damages they have caused,” she stated.

For now, it remains to be seen how much the roadmap will influence negotiations among political leaders in the coming days. The Belém Climate Summit, being held on Nov. 6–7, 2025, brings together heads of state, ministers, and international organization leaders to address major climate challenges and establish new commitments. Following that, the 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP30) will be held from Nov. 10 to 21.