Climate High-Level Champions meet in Brazil to rally climate momentum ahead of COP30

This week COP29 and COP30 Climate High-Level Champions Nigar Arpadarai and Dan Ioschpe will be in Brazil for a series of events in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in the days immediately before COP30 opens in Belém on 10 November.

The programme is designed to highlight how businesses; investors; cities, states and regions; and civil society are contributing to climate action and to connect this activity with the COP30 Action Agenda. The emphasis is on helping turn countries’ national climate and adaptation plans – NDCs and NAPs – into investable projects and action plans that strengthen resilience and cut emissions.

In São Paulo, attention will focus on PRI in Person, the world’s largest responsible investment gathering, which brings together leaders and practitioners across the global investment ecosystem. The summit, taking place 4-6 November, is focused on how institutional investors can mobilize mainstream institutional investment for mitigation, adaptation and nature, particularly in emerging markets where capital gaps remain acute.

The discussions come as the Green Climate Fund reports a record year, with US$3.26 billion channelled to developing countries in 2025, surpassing the previous record of US$2.9 billion in 2021. Some of Brazil’s largest institutional investors, including PREVI, BNDES, IDB and Bradesco, will be joined by international investors such as PIMCO, La Caisse and NBIM to share and explore scalable models for climate finance. Among the examples of proven investment opportunities is the Regional Platforms for Climate Projects work and its showcase of US$4.4 billion in ventures and investment vehicles. The multi-partner effort connects investors, ventures, investment vehicles, and capacity-building providers to scale pipelines and make finance the engine of the transition.

Action to protect and restore nature will feature heavily on the agenda. The Tropical Forest Forever Facility, an innovative large-scale blended finance vehicle set to launch at COP30, aims to protect one billion hectares of tropical forests while ensuring provisions for direct access financing for Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Alongside this, the Finance Sector Deforestation Action initiative, representing US$8 trillion in assets under management, will highlight tangible progress by its members, who are leading efforts to address and steward deforestation-related financial risks in their portfolios. Over 1,000 businesses and financial institutions are now aligned with the Nature Positive for Climate Action Call to Action – a more than sixfold increase since COP28, reflecting an increase in actors safeguarding and investing in nature as a central aspect of credible, effective climate action.

Adaptation finance innovation will also feature, with investors presenting approaches for integrating resilience into mainstream portfolios. Leading organizations are expected to share leadership cases from companies implementing climate action. Some of the convenings in São Paulo will connect with businesses and organizations not travelling to Belém to ensure their voices and implementation efforts help build momentum and contribute to COP30 results.

In Rio de Janeiro, the COP30 Local Leaders Forum takes place 3-5 November, co-hosted by the COP30 Presidency and Bloomberg Philanthropies and co-chaired by Dan Ioschpe, alongside UN and subnational leaders. The gathering will bring together hundreds of Brazilian and international mayors, governors and regional leaders as critical partners in driving delivery on the ground and shaping how local and regional climate action connects with national and global outcomes.

On 4 November, the Bloomberg Philanthropies Local Leaders Climate Awards will recognize trailblazing cities and regions, with Dan Ioschpe serving as a juror. The Forum will culminate in a Local Climate Action Summit on 5 November, where a political statement representing the voices of more than 14,000 local leaders will be presented in support of stronger national outcomes in Belém. Examples from cities, states, and regions are expected to demonstrate how integrated policies across transportation, energy, waste management, and water systems are delivering tangible social and economic benefits, from green jobs to better public health outcomes.

These different strands of activity are being brought together through the COP30 Action Agenda. Non-State actors have long played an essential role in the COP process. The Action Agenda provides a platform to coordinate and amplify voluntary climate action – from business and finance to cities, states and civil society – driving emission reductions, strengthening adaptation and supporting fair and sustainable economies. At COP30, this work continues through a framework organized around six axes – energy, nature, food, cities, human development and finance – aligning real-economy action with the goals of the Paris Agreement and the outcomes of the Global Stocktake.

The meetings this week will showcase a wide array of inspiring examples of how local, regional and sectoral activity is bringing climate solutions across the Action Agenda framework to life - investors pointing to new capital flows for adaptation and nature, businesses showing progress where smart climate action is helping them navigate economic headwinds, and how local and regional leaders are showing the world they are indispensable partners for implementation. By the end of the week, Brazil will have brought investors, companies and subnational governments and leaders together on its own ground to align priorities before COP30. The discussions in São Paulo and Rio will help set the stage for Belém, shaping the context in which the COP30 Action Agenda opens on 10 November.