The National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) announced a record R$7 billion investment in Brazilian forests since 2023, at the COP30 Leaders Summit in Belém. The amount, the largest in the bank's history for the forestry sector, funds the planting of about 280 million trees and the capture of 54 million tons of CO2. The initiative combines reimbursable and non-reimbursable resources for conservation and restoration.
On Thursday, November 6, 2025, during the Leaders Summit preceding COP30 in Belém (PA), BNDES President Aloizio Mercadante revealed that the bank has invested R$7 billion in Brazilian forests over the last two years, since 2023. This amount represents the planting of approximately 280 million trees, the recovery of 168,000 hectares, the generation of 70,000 jobs, and the capture of 54 million tons of CO2 equivalent, equivalent to three years without cars circulating in São Paulo, according to the bank.
The investment, the largest in BNDES history for the forestry sector, results from a combination of instruments such as credit, guarantees, concessions, and productive support, including reimbursable and non-reimbursable resources. In 2023, at COP28, the bank promised to mobilize R$1 billion for reforestation; now, it has reached about R$7 billion. Key initiatives include the Arco de Restauração na Amazônia, aiming to inject R$200 billion to restore 24 million hectares in the deforestation arc region, covering Maranhão, southern Pará, Mato Grosso, Rondônia, and Acre. In this program, R$2.4 billion was mobilized in less than two years for forest recomposition. Integrated with it, the Restaura Amazônia program allocated R$500 million in non-reimbursable resources — R$450 million from the Amazon Fund and R$50 million from Petrobras — for agroforestry systems and restoration in indigenous lands, settlements, and conservation units.
The BNDES also recently launched the Florestas platform, which organizes and provides transparency to the bank's actions, including Fundo Clima credit operations, investments in ecological and productive restoration, and technology innovation programs. Additionally, it created the BNDES Florestas Crédito line, focused on reforesting native and agroforestry areas.
"At COP28, we promised to mobilize R$1 billion for this program. Today we have already reached about R$7 billion for reforestation, which represents the planting of 283 million trees and the capture of 54 million tons of CO2 from the atmosphere," said Mercadante. He emphasized: "Forest restoration is a nature-based solution [...] that has proven extremely efficient for capturing carbon. But it goes beyond that: it is a way to recompose biodiversity, generate employment and income, and rebuild the lives of local communities from the forest." Mercadante concluded: "Brazil has everything to be the world's largest restoration hub — and I want to put BNDES at the disposal to exchange experiences and technology and to seek more partnerships. In addition to not deforesting, we must rebuild the Brazilian forest."