COP30: Brazil Advances with National Urban Afforestation Plan

The first week of COP30, held in Belém from 10 to 21 November 2025, reaffirmed the Amazon’s central role in contemporary environmental diplomacy. With 56,118 registered participants, the conference alternated between geopolitical tensions, multibillion-dollar financial announcements and structural debates — yet none resonated as strongly within the national discourse as the launch of the National Urban Afforestation Plan (PlaNAU), one of the most ambitious public policies Brazil has ever presented at a climate summit.

Amid divergences concerning fossil fuels, international financing and the targets of the Paris Agreement, PlaNAU emerged as a pragmatic counterpoint: a concrete proposal for climate adaptation applied directly to the daily reality of Brazilian cities.

Brazil brings to its cities the urgency that diplomacy does not always achieve

The announcement of PlaNAU — devised to expand urban tree cover and implement green infrastructure at a national scale — resonated among Latin American delegations and multilateral organizations. For many specialists, it constitutes the first Brazilian urban policy capable of integrating climate action, public health, territorial planning and socio-environmental justice.

The plan establishes:

• ensuring that 65% of the Brazilian population lives on streets with at least three trees;

• creating 360,000 hectares of urban green areas within ten years;

• prioritizing municipalities most vulnerable to heat islands;

• integrating afforestation into urban drainage strategies, thereby reducing the impacts of intense rainfall;

• leveraging geoprocessing technologies and urban forest inventories;

• expanding technical qualification, thereby strengthening the market for forestry engineers, surveyors, environmental analysts and geotechnology specialists.

  
  

The plan’s presentation in Belém linked the global climate agenda to urban themes that had until then received limited attention within COP negotiations. Its positive repercussion reflected a growing trend: the recognition that the climate crisis will be felt — and confronted — primarily within cities, where more than 80% of Brazilians reside.

Green infrastructure as a State-level public policy

PlaNAU was regarded by international negotiators as an example of a “low-emission, high-social-impact” public policy. Unlike distant geopolitical commitments, the plan arises from an objective reality: the country faces rising average temperatures, increasingly severe heat waves and accelerated urban growth in areas lacking environmental planning.

By proposing structured afforestation integrated into urban zoning, PlaNAU acts on critical fronts:

• mitigation of heat islands that increase health risks, particularly among the elderly;

• improvement of air quality, impacted by vehicle emissions;

• enhancement of water infiltration, reducing recurrent flooding;

• landscape and real estate valorization, encouraging more orderly urban occupancy;

• psychological well-being, as green areas are associated with reduced thermal stress.

  
  

The plan also stimulates an environmentally positive production chain, generating demand for nurseries, afforestation teams, urban forest management companies, environmental consultancies and geotechnology laboratories — sectors fully aligned with the technical competencies of Green Forest.

The Amazon as a showcase for urban policy: a strategic symbolism

Presenting PlaNAU in Belém — a city marked by extreme humidity, episodes of intense heat and longstanding drainage challenges — granted the plan a symbolic dimension of notable significance. The climate experienced by COP30 participants — oppressive morning heat followed by abrupt storms — served as an illustration of the vulnerabilities Brazilian cities will face in the coming decades.

International delegates emphasized that the Brazilian initiative contrasts with the reluctance of developed countries to present robust urban adaptation policies. In this respect, Belém became a showcase for a strategy that unites tropical forests and cities — two environments traditionally separated within climate diplomacy.

Between PlaNAU and global financing: the dispute for resources

Although widely acknowledged as essential, PlaNAU will depend on continuous financing and upon technical capacity within municipalities — challenges common to green infrastructure policies across the Global South.

The debate surrounding the Baku to Belém Roadmap, which seeks to mobilize US$ 1.3 trillion annually by 2035, became a central point. The Brazilian delegation argued that part of these resources should be allocated to urban adaptation, including planned afforestation, sustainable management of green areas and monitoring through geotechnologies — recurring themes in Green Forest’s project portfolio.

Internationally, the proposal was well received, yet it faces resistance from countries that prioritize mitigation and renewable energy investments. Deliberation on the matter will continue into the second week of the conference.

PlaNAU and Territorial Governance: where cities and forests converge

For environmental consultancies engaged in land regularization, georeferencing and forestry projects — such as Green Forest — PlaNAU inaugurates an entirely new field of technical operation. This is because it requires:

• precise arboreal inventories;

• spatial planning supported by green-coverage algorithms;

• urban environmental studies;

• mapping of drainage-critical areas;

• technical criteria for species selection;

• projects founded upon robust legal and territorial frameworks.

  
  

In practice, the initiative merges expertise traditionally applied in forests and rural properties with methodologies adapted to dense urban environments. It is the first time a Brazilian climate policy expands the scale of integration between city and nature to such an extent.

Between tensions and progress: PlaNAU as a highlight of a fragmented COP

The first week of COP30 was marked by significant advances — strengthening of the TFFF, expansion of the debate on carbon credits and increased pressure for more ambitious climate targets — as well as predictable frustrations, especially regarding fossil fuels.

Yet, for Brazil, PlaNAU represented both a diplomatic and technical achievement. It demonstrated the country’s capacity to present solid, replicable policies with direct impact on the population and full alignment with scientific recommendations.

While the future of trillion-dollar climate financing remains uncertain, the Brazilian plan stands out as an immediate and tangible response to the climate crisis — albeit one that depends on political continuity and consistent investment for its full implementation.

Belém as symbol: urgency reaches the gates of the cities

By hosting COP30, Belém did more than receive negotiators. The city embodied the confrontation between science and politics, between global discourse and local realities. Within this context, PlaNAU established itself as one of the most concrete announcements of the conference — a bridge between Amazonian conservation and the future of Brazilian metropolises.

Amid the Amazonian heat and diplomatic negotiations, one message echoed with particular force: the climate has changed — and cities must change as well.

Whether COP30 will be remembered as a turning point or another frustrated opportunity remains to be seen in the second week. Yet, for Brazil, PlaNAU already constitutes a legacy.

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