Brazil's Bndes, IDB eye Amazon recovery

: Agriculture, Emissions
25/01/27

Brazil's development bank Bndes and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will finance $1mn in projects to help restoreAmazonian states' forestsand boost regional economy.

The partnership aims to help preserve the Amazon rainforest and strengthen sustainable agricultural practices through joint projects between public and private parties.

States that house the Amazon rainforest are northern Acre, Amapa, Amazonas, Para, Rondonia, Roraima and Tocantins, along with central-western Mato Grosso and northeastern Maranhao.

Bndes did not disclose when the project will begin.

This is the latest of a series of Bndes investments to restore the Amazon. The bank has sent R405mn ($68.3mn) to eight Brazilian states to help firefighters combat wildfires and prevent deforestation. It also set out a R1bn plan to restore deforested and degraded areas in the Amazon in 2023.

Brazil, which will host the UN Cop 30 climate summit in November, faced rampant deforestation in previous governments. Almost half of Brazil's emissions were linked to land-use and forestry as of January 2024.

Brazil's emission reduction targets made on previous Cop summits rely heavily on slashing deforestation, specially in Amazon. Brazil's portion of the Amazon biome lost over 17.6mn hectares to wildfires in 2024. That accounts for 58pc of the country's total burnt area during the year, up by 62pc from 10.8mn ha a year before.

Para, where Cop 30 will take place, has prioritized sustainable economic activities and forest recovery efforts to diversify its income generation, governor Helder Barbalho said on the World Economic Forum last week.

By Maria Frazatto

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