Under the dense canopy of Pará’s eastern frontier, the Inter-American Development Bank chose COP30 to introduce a new financial instrument with the potential to shift how the world restores the Amazon. The announcement marked a breakthrough not only for Brazil but for multilateral development finance: the first guarantee ever issued by a multilateral bank specifically for forest restoration in the Amazon, and the first of its kind in Brazil.
The USD 15 million, 20-year guarantee anchors the Triunfo do Xingu Recovery Unit, a pioneering public-private restoration concession that has long sat just beyond the reach of mainstream investors. With the IDB stepping in to reduce risk, the concession enters a new phase where restoration becomes bankable, scalable and aligned with long-term development goals.
A new financial architecture for restoration
The operation was structured under Amazonia Forever, the IDB Group’s umbrella program designed to mobilize investment for sustainable development across the Amazon Basin. Its logic is straightforward: if restoration is to work at scale, financing must be as reliable and long-lived as the forests themselves.
For IDB Group President Ilan Goldfajn, this initial guarantee is both a proof of concept and a regional signal. “This is a concrete outcome of Amazonia Forever and a replicable model for other Amazonian countries, as well as for other biomes in Latin America and the Caribbean,” he said.
By providing long-term security, the guarantee lowers barriers for private investors and improves conditions for credit, effectively treating restoration concessions like other large-scale infrastructure ventures.
Brazil’s Minister of Planning and Budget Simone Tebet characterized the operation as a dual innovation: environmental and financial.
She noted that the structure “will help Brazilian states channel resources for development into environmental and social projects, addressing a historical challenge in structuring guarantees for public-private partnerships.”
The approval from Brazil’s External Financing Commission will also allow the concession to receive a National Treasury guarantee.
Triunfo do Xingu as the starting point
The State of Pará has positioned Triunfo do Xingu as the testing ground for a restoration model capable of shifting regional economies. Long pressured by livestock expansion, the area is now moving through a recovery phase supported by public concessions and robust economic studies.
“The symbolism of taking the first step in Triunfo do Xingu is enormous,” said Governor Helder Barbalho, underlining the political and ecological significance of reclaiming degraded lands.
The concession is designed to demonstrate the economic viability of restoration, creating a platform where local communities, private firms and government institutions can jointly shape a sustainable value chain.
Expected outcomes and investment leverage
During the 20-year concession period, the project is expected to deliver measurable climate and social benefits:
- 9,980 hectares of forests restored and conserved
- 3.7 million tons of CO₂ sequestered
- USD 2.5 million invested directly in local communities
- 2,000 jobs created
- More than USD 46 million in total investments leveraged
These outcomes reflect a shift from restoration as a cost burden to restoration as a development strategy, linking bioeconomy growth, local production chains and social inclusion.
Scaling a regional model
The IDB’s Amazonia Forever program is now entering a new phase. In Pará, two additional areas are being prepared for inclusion in the Triunfo do Xingu Environmental Protection Area. In Rondônia, the IDB is supporting similar concession models for restoration and conservation.
At the federal level, the IDB is working with the government of Brazil, BNDES and the Brazilian Forest Service on projects covering more than 7.5 million hectares across Federal Conservation Units. These include seven concessions for forest restoration and five for sustainable forest management, creating one of the most extensive networks of forest-related public-private partnerships in the region.
The IDB Group’s presence at COP30 underscores the scale of its ambition. With more than 80 events across the conference, the Bank is positioning itself as a bridge between governments, investors and communities, aiming to mobilize at least USD 6 billion in announcements tied to resilient development and national priorities.
The guarantee for Triunfo do Xingu distills that ambition into a single, measurable action. In a region where environmental uncertainty has long deterred investors, a long-term multilateral backstop offers something rare: a foundation on which governments and private partners can build a restoration economy at scale.
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