COP30: Increasing funding for the Amazon is Brazil’s historic opportunity to prevent global climate collapse

Civil society delivers recommendations to the COP30 Presidency to scale up large-scale financing for nature-based solutions and avoid the forest’s tipping point.

A global pact is urgently needed to mobilize US$7 billion annually to protect the Amazon, redirect harmful subsidies, and ensure direct financing for Indigenous Peoples and traditional communities.

Brasília (July 4, 2025) — On the eve of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), to be held in November 2025 in Belém (PA), civil society organizations, research centers and local and international leaders join forces to propose to the Brazilian government an action plan capable of attracting new investments for the conservation, restoration and sustainable development of the Amazon. The plan is being delivered today to the National Secretary for Climate Change, Ana Toni.

Read the letter here.

The equation is simple: if we want any chance of tackling the climate crisis and keeping the global average temperature rise below 2°C, we must prevent the Amazon from collapsing. Scientists warn that losing 50-70% of the world’s largest tropical forest would release 300 billion tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere, making it impossible to meet the Paris Agreement target. There is no time to lose. COP30 is a historic opportunity to place the Amazon at the center of the global climate agenda. 

Scaling big finance for nature-based solutions to safeguard the Amazon: a roadmap for action.

In recommendations to the Brazilian Presidency of COP30 in Belém, the signatories call on the Presidency to lead the global mobilization of public, private and philanthropic resources to ensure the protection of the largest tropical forest on the planet and avoid its irreversible degradation.

The urgency of protecting the Amazon

Covering 6.5 million km², the Amazon is home to 13% of known species on the planet, 20% of the world’s surface freshwater and about 47 million people, including over 400 Indigenous groups. Essential for global climate balance, the Amazon stores between 150 and 200 billion tonnes of carbon, equivalent to 15-20 years of global CO₂ emissions.

However, this is a critical moment for the Amazon. Over 17% of the forest in Brazilian territory has already been deforested, and 31% is degraded. The loss of just 5% more could push the forest past a tipping point, irreversibly transforming it into a savanna. Economic policies exacerbate the problem: 89% of global agricultural climate finance is directed toward unsustainable practices, and 30% of annual deforestation occurs in undesignated public forests, areas highly vulnerable to land grabbing.

Meanwhile, current funding for the Amazon is insufficient. According to the World Bank, $7 billion per year is needed to protect the forest, but only $5.8 billion was mobilized over the past decade. Today, just 3% of global climate finance goes to nature-based solutions for mitigation and 11% for adaptation, despite their potential to deliver up to 30% of the mitigation needed by 2030.

The authors call for a clear action plan to align financial flows with nature-positive economies in the Amazon, including reorienting harmful subsidies and incentives that are destroying the forest and demanding traceability across key supply chains near high-deforestation areas. They also call for a global commitment to combat transnational illegal economies, promote payment for environmental services, strengthen safeguards and implement a human rights-based approach, including land tenure security and the inclusion of Indigenous peoples and local communities.

“Safeguarding the forest’s resilience in the Anthropocene depends on two imperatives: conserving at least 80% of the Amazon biome and global collaboration to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions with adequate financial support,” reads the letter, which outlines feasible pathways aligned with COP30 negotiations. “Protecting the Amazon is not just an environmental issue — it is an economic and global climate necessity. The necessary investment is significant but feasible, and infinitely smaller than the cost of letting this vital ecosystem collapse,” the document concludes.

Call to the COP30 Presidency: A global pact for the Amazon

The signatory civil society organizations urge Brazil to take a leadership role at COP30, stimulating a coalition to mobilize resources, governments, development banks, businesses and major foundations, ensuring that funding reaches initiatives that keep the forest standing and strengthen the communities that care for it. Key recommendations fall into three areas: 

1. Conservation finance — Strengthen mechanisms such as the Amazon Protected Areas Program (ARPA), Herencia Colombia, Patrimonio del Perú and the Podáali Fund to conserve 331 million hectares, restore 600,000 km² and ensure direct funding for Indigenous peoples and local communities.
2. Green and inclusive economy — Promote deforestation-free supply chains, such as the Soy Moratorium and Pará’s beef traceability program. The IFACC (Innovative Finance for the Amazon, Cerrado and Chaco) initiative has already mobilized $4.6 billion for sustainable supply chains and can serve as a model for new commitments.
3. Capacity and governance building — Invest in environmental monitoring technology, strengthen local governments and ensure the leadership of Indigenous peoples and local communities, with social and environmental safeguards and respect for their territorial governance.

The organizations call on Brazil to lead the creation of a global coalition capable of mobilizing the resources needed to protect the Amazon. Proposed measures include:

• Launching a Global Declaration for the Amazon, with clear targets to align financial flows with a nature-positive economy
• Promoting the creation of the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF), to mobilize up to $125 billion for tropical forests by 2030
• Stimulating integrated action by public development banks, philanthropy and the private sector to support conservation, sustainable use and restoration of Amazonian ecosystems
• Ensuring Indigenous peoples and local communities have direct access to resources and that their governance structures are respected and strengthened so they can protect nature and address climate change

Quotes

“Directing substantial and immediate financial resources to preserve the Amazon must be recognized as an urgent climate strategy to avoid the worst consequences of global warming,” said Rachel Biderman, Senior Vice President for the Americas at Conservation International, one of the organizations responsible for preparing the recommendations. “Amazon conservation must be one of COP30’s major outcomes. The solution is within reach of the Brazilian COP30 Presidency and can begin to be implemented at the Belém conference,” she adds.

“COP30 will be a turning point in the debate on financing for nature. Funding for the conservation, restoration, and sustainable management of tropical forests is essential to tackling climate change. Innovative financial solutions, such as Brazil’s proposal for the Tropical Forests Forever mechanism, are priorities for the COP30 presidency in our global effort to accelerate climate action,” said Ana Toni, Executive Director of COP30 and National Secretary for Climate Change at Brazil’s Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change. 

“The joint effort to secure financial resources for nature-based solutions is essential for the Amazon to generate prosperity and well-being for all its inhabitants with the forest standing,” said Livia Pagotto, from Uma Concertação pela Amazônia.

“The first climate COP to be held in the world’s largest tropical forest must commit to concrete financial and political support so that the Amazon and other tropical forests on the planet can continue to securely store and capture carbon. It is essential to strengthen the forest’s guardians – Indigenous peoples and local communities – not only for their future, but for all life on Earth. Rainforest Trust is proud to help mobilize private philanthropic financing for these efforts — now the public sector must do its part, especially the wealthiest countries,” said James Deutsch, CEO of Rainforest Trust. 

“Brazil has a historic opportunity to lead a global transformation. It is time to recognize the enormous potential nature has to protect the planet. And beyond mobilizing resources, we need to ensure they reach the territories of those who truly protect the forest. COP30 can mark a new era of international cooperation, with the Amazon at the center and the heart of the planet,” said Juliana Simões, Deputy Manager of the Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Strategy at The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Brazil.

Supporting organizations: Andes Amazon Fund | Science Panel for the Amazon – SPA | Conservation International – CI | The Field Museum | IPAM | Uma Concertação pela Amazônia | Rainforest Trust 

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