By Marcelo Tomé Kubo
Last month, the 30th UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) was held in Belém, Brazil. It was hosted by the country with the most biodiverse flora known to science. And in the Amazon region, home of the largest tropical rainforest in the world and more than 180 Indigenous peoples.
For two weeks, leaders, scientists, representatives of diverse organized civil societies, and activists assessed our commitments, plans, and actions to combat climate change. As a Brazilian landscape architect, urbanist, and botanist, it was a privilege to attend a COP in my own country and with such an ambitious aim: to be the COP of implementation.
There was much anticipation that there would be important and concrete steps to phase out fossil fuels, and much frustration when this goal was not mentioned in the final document. Still, just being on the table for discussion is already a win, and the Brazilian COP presidency will continue to advocate for this objective until the next COP in Turkey next year.
In my view, Brazil, as host country, was determined to leave its mark in the history of COPs and lead by example.
Three points called my attention during my participation and I believe will have a major impact in Brazil but also reverberate globally: the Tropical Forest Forever Facility; the participation of Indigenous peoples; and the leading role of subnational governments.
Tropical Forest Forever Facility
The importance of tropical rainforests for climate regulation, food and water security, and many other ecosystem services is widely known in scientific publications. A recent study assessing the natural capital of tropical forests in the Amazon found crop pollination services alone are worth over US$4 million. Carbon storage can be over 200 metric tonnes per hectare, and the Amazon decreases local temperatures by 0.4°C (0.72°F). Some of the Amazon’s value, such as its cultural value and the sense of belonging it creates, is intangible.
In the same study, the researchers estimated these services depend on the preservation of almost 85 percent of the Amazon’s species and that 60 percent of them are irreplaceable. Still, deforestation for cattle, monoculture farming, and mining continues to threaten the ecosystem.
Brazil understands that the protection of the standing tropical forests is vital in our struggle to mitigate the impacts of climate change and secure ecosystem services. So it launched an initiative at COP30 called the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF).
This new financing mechanism aims to reward Tropical Forest Countries that protect and conserve their forests by providing a long-term and reliable results-based income. Countries will choose how to apply the funds as long as it is aligned with TFFF’s conditions. One of those conditions is that a minimum of 20 percent of funds received should be directed to those who have been managing these territories for many generations — Indigenous peoples and local communities.
This new source of funding may give a jump-start to the implementation of ambitious public projects, such as the Jequitibá Park in the Sao Paulo Metropolitan Region. Once finished, it would be the largest environmental urban park in South America at more than 130 hectares. Since 2009, its implementation has suffered from irregular funding. A reliable source of income may ensure the protection of an important remaining fragment of the Atlantic Rainforest.
Participation of Indigenous Peoples
The TFFF recognizes the important role played by Indigenous peoples in the protection of the standing forests by the TFFF. Their territories represent around 13 percent of Brazil but harbor 20 percent of native vegetation. From 1985 to 2024, their territories lost less than 1 percent of native vegetation whereas in private rural areas this figure is around 21 percent.
At COP30, we had the largest Indigenous attendance, with over 4,000 people. Brazilian Indigenous peoples demand recognition of their voices, knowledge, diversity – more than 390 peoples and 295 native languages – and leadership in the protection of all Brazilian biomes, including Amazon, Cerrado, Atlantic Rainforest, Pantanal, Caatinga and Pampa.
Throughout the conference, Indigenous peoples and local communities were at negotiations, pavilions, presentations, and gatherings, making sure delegates heard their voices, demands, and solutions.
Meeting some of those demands, the Brazilian government newly recognized four Indigenous lands spanning approximately 2.2 million hectares in the Amazon, and other 10 Indigenous lands in other regions.
The Italian pavilion featured the event Amazon: Strategies and Best Practices to avoid Collapse – a 25-year Experience, with Alda Brazão, Indigenous leadership, showing how responsible tourism and science research can contribute to forest conservation when Indigenous peoples are respected and involved.
Leading Role of Subnational Governments
“It will be in the cities that we will win or lose the climate agenda,” said UN-HABITAT executive director Anaclaudia Rossbach. The phrase stuck with me after attending multiple sessions of Mutirão (joint effort) with subnational governments on the “integrated local and regional solutions for climate, biodiversity, and land restoration.” The sessions included ICLEI, UN-HABITAT, IPCC, CityWithNature, Brazil’s Ministry of Cities, and Philip Yang, the COP30 Special Envoy for Urban Solutions.
The discussion highlighted examples of successful actions at the local level, demonstrating the crucial role of subnational governments in implementing urban adaptation to climate change, and the need to ensure more direct funding reaches them.
In Brazil, more than 85 percent of the population lives in cities. As part of the Program of Green Resilient Cities, the Brazilian Ministry of Environment and Climate Change launched the National Urban Afforestation Plan (PlaNAU) at COP30. The plan is an effort to empower cities to increase vegetation cover and promote biodiversity.
In the plan, urban afforestation is seen as green infrastructure and a nature-based solution able to respond to urban and climatic challenges. The effort is based in a simple but ambitious rule: 3-30-300.
Each person should see 3 trees from home, each neighborhood must have 30 percent vegetation cover, and nobody should live more than 300 meters away from a public green space. It is a monumental task. Looking at just one of those parameters: less than half of our urban population have 3 or more trees on their street. Brazilian landscape architects will play an important role in changing that scenario.
This was my first experience at a COP, and it profoundly changed me on many levels. Personally, I have a sense of urgency to take action. I feel that one of the most important things to do is to restore our connection to and wonder of the natural world in our daily lives.
As a landscape architect, I feel our role in shaping cities will be decisive. We have the ability to help cities adapt to a changing climate, restore and protect ecosystem services, and design communities where we can co-habitate with nature.
Marcelo Tomé Kubo, International ASLA, PhD, is managing partner at patricia AKINAGA landscape architecture, planning, and urban design. He is also a National Geographic explorer.