Brazilian banks, IDB plan new Amazon fund

Brazil's three state-owned banks — Caixa, Banco do Brasil and development bank Bndes — and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) are planning to launch a new fund to finance sustainability programs in the Amazon forest, they said on Thursday.

The plan is to establish an Exchange Traded Fund — to be called ETF Amazon For All — and distribute quotas before the UN Cop 30 climate summit, which will be held in Brazil's Para state, near the mouth of the Amazon, in November 2025.

The fund's investment portfolio will be made up of fixed-income securities issued by the three Brazilian banks. The return offered to investors will be based on a reference index to be created. All the funds raised by the three institutions will be allocated to loans for sustainable projects in the Amazon.

"This cooperation, aimed at joining efforts in favor of the Amazon's sustainable development and based on an innovative instrument in the Brazilian capital market, reinforces Bndes' commitment to the Cop 30 agenda," the bank's president Aloizio Mercadante said.

The fund is "another step towards ensuring that the Amazon" lasts forever, IDB's president Ilan Goldfajn said.

The announcement was made during a G20 meeting attended by finance ministers and central bank presidents in Rio de Janeiro this week. Brazil is presiding over G20 this year.

By Lucas Parolin