Lula Opens Belém Leaders’ Summit, Unveils Tropical Forests Forever Fund

Overview

• The two‑day Leaders’ Summit in Belém opened as a non‑deliberative prelude to COP30, convening heads of state to set political direction ahead of negotiations from November 10 to 21.
• Brazil formally presented the Tropical Forests Forever Fund, seeded with a US$1 billion Brazilian pledge and targeting about US$125 billion with World Bank involvement, annual payments per hectare preserved, at least 20% for Indigenous communities, and no fossil‑fuel investments.
• Finance officials said additional public contributions are still being negotiated, with Indonesia indicating a matching US$1 billion and Brazil seeking at least US$10 billion in public funds in the first year.
• Brazil and Azerbaijan released the Baku‑to‑Belém Roadmap proposing ways to mobilize roughly US$1.3 trillion a year through measures such as aviation and maritime levies, wealth and financial‑transaction taxes, SDR reallocation and multilateral development bank reforms.
• About 143 delegations and roughly 57 leaders are participating, including Emmanuel Macron, Keir Starmer and Prince William, with notable absences by U.S. President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping.