Brazil Elevates Cities in Climate Strategy as Mayors Rally at COP30 Forum

Overview

• Brazil’s environment ministry spotlighted the Cidades Verdes Resilientes program as the vehicle to fund and accelerate urban mitigation and adaptation, with World Bank, IDB and C40 support for technical assistance and credit intermediation.
• The federal Fundo Clima was expanded to R$10 billion across 2024–2025, including a first-ever R$3.5 billion allocation for municipalities, which drew nearly R$7 billion in requests and a 324‑project pipeline totaling R$16.6 billion.
• Cities receive only about 10% of climate finance and just 6% as grants, the cities minister said, arguing that developed countries should shoulder part of the costs and citing a UN estimate of US$1.2 trillion needed annually for urban infrastructure.
• Limited local technical capacity is stalling delivery, with a recently selected US$25 billion portfolio for drainage, mobility and slope containment not reaching many smaller municipalities prepared to execute projects.
• More than 100 mayors launched an FNP letter for COP30 calling for multilevel governance, stronger subnational roles and inclusion in Brazil’s NDCs at a Rio forum convened by the COP30 presidency and Bloomberg Philanthropies.