As Brazil prepares to host the COP30 climate summit in November 2025 (in Belém, in the Amazon region), it is championing bold initiatives to move from climate talk to tangible action. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has framed COP30 as the “COP of Truth”.
It’s supposed to be a moment for the world to back rhetoric with real commitments. In this spirit, Brazil is spearheading two ambitious proposals: a USD 125 billion tropical forest conservation fund, and a global carbon pricing coalition. These efforts aim to align financial systems with climate goals and deliver real funding flows, rather than just pledges and targets.
A Tropical Forest Fund Of Unprecedented Scale
Brazil is rallying international support for the Tropical Forests Forever Fund (TFFF). It’s an initiative to mobilise up to USD 125 billion by 2030 for protecting tropical forests. The TFFF, proposed by Brazil’s COP30 Presidency, is envisioned as a novel conservation finance facility.
Rather than relying on traditional aid, it would raise capital from public and private sources, invest those funds, and channel a portion of the returns to countries that keep their forests intact. A dedicated share of the benefits is earmarked for Indigenous peoples and local communities, who are crucial stewards of the forest.
By providing stable, long-term funding for forest conservation through investment returns, the fund seeks to make standing forests more economically valuable than those that have been logged.
Lula emphasised, “To make the forest worth more standing than cut down.”
This fund represents a massive scale-up in forest finance. Today, funding falls woefully short of what’s needed to preserve ecosystems like the Amazon. The World Bank estimates that about USD 7 billion per year is required to safeguard the Amazon, yet only USD 5.8 billion was mobilised in total over the past decade. Globally, a mere 3% of climate finance goes to nature-based solutions. Brazil’s USD 125 billion TFFF aims to close this gap with real money on the table.
Notably, the initiative has garnered regional support, and in August 2025, all eight Amazonian countries endorsed a joint communique backing the TFFF ahead of COP30. If launched successfully, the fund could provide a lifeline for tropical forests, offering sustained financial incentives to halt deforestation.
However, watchdog groups stress that such a fund must be paired with strong regulations, and without ending the billions in private financing that still flow to deforestation, a conservation fund alone is like “bailing out a sinking ship without fixing the hole,” Global Witness warns.
The clear message is that COP30 should deliver innovative funding and stricter rules to truly curb forest loss.
Global Carbon Pricing Coalition
The second pillar of Brazil’s climate leadership is a push to integrate global carbon markets. After years of halting international progress on carbon pricing, Brazil is convening a coalition of major economies to align their emissions trading systems.
The Brazilian government has signalled an innovative proposal at COP30. They plan on linking the carbon markets of Brazil, the European Union, China, and California (USA) as an initial alliance. This coalition would act as a preliminary global carbon market, since these jurisdictions together account for nearly 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
By establishing common trading standards and reciprocity among their carbon pricing systems, the alliance could grow over time with new members, ultimately converging into a truly global carbon market. Crucially, a smaller coalition can move faster and set practical rules, compared to waiting for consensus among all 195 countries of the United Nations’ climate convention.
Brazil’s advocacy for carbon market integration comes as carbon pricing gains momentum worldwide. Already, about 25% of global emissions are “priced” in some form. There are either carbon taxes or cap-and-trade systems, which internalise the cost of pollution. Yet these systems remain fragmented, with differing prices and regulations.
A unified coalition could harmonise carbon pricing and credit trading, making it easier for countries (and companies) to invest in emissions cuts wherever they are most efficient. For developing nations, this framework could unlock real financial flows via carbon credits. Countries that over-achieve on emissions cuts could sell credits to others, attracting investment for green projects.
Lula’s team argues for a multilateral approach that ensures environmental integrity, but also recognises different responsibilities, so that developing economies can benefit from carbon markets without compromising growth. Notably, Brazil itself is gearing up domestically.
It passed a law in 2024 to create a regulated carbon market by 2027, and is considering a carbon tax on fossil fuels by 2026. By aligning its own policies with international best practices, Brazil hopes to lead by example.
From Pledges To Progress
Together, the forest fund and carbon market coalition reflect Brazil’s broader aim for COP30, which moved from promises to implementation. Rather than new lofty goals, the focus is on “system alignment.” There is a genuine effort to reshape financial and economic systems to support climate action.
This means creating mechanisms that make rainforests worth more alive than dead (through actual monetary incentives), and that put a real price on carbon pollution globally. These efforts attempt to answer long-standing gaps in climate efforts: the shortfall in climate finance for nature, and the lack of a unified carbon pricing regime.
By proposing concrete solutions, Brazil is seizing the opportunity of hosting COP30 to drive the conversation beyond talk. As Lula stated, COP30 must force countries to “take responsibility” and act on what science demands.
Achieving consensus won’t be easy, as raising USD 125 billion and coordinating carbon policies are formidable tasks. Yet if Brazil’s initiatives gain traction, COP30 could mark a turning point where bold ideas translate into real dollars and enforceable frameworks for climate action. In a world eager for climate progress, Brazil’s leadership is injecting much-needed optimism that this UN summit can deliver more than words.