Brazil's Bndes development bank approved spending $1.2bn of the Climate Fund in the second and third quarters to finance climate change mitigation projects.
The projects that received funding — equal to about 70pc of the fund's total — will prevent 3.3mn metric tonnes (t) of CO2 equivalent/yr, according to Bndes. That would be 16 times more CO2 avoided than the 204,000 t from projects approved in the same period last year.
In 2023 the fund released $176mn to 27 projects, most of them being renewable energy projects.
The funds will go toward wind energy and biogas projects, urban mobility, bus fleet electrification and light rail transportation, as well as to finance green industries and native forest projects.
Interest in developing Brazil's sustainable fuels market is growing, Bndes president Aloizio Mercadante said. "For this reason, we must at least double the resources of the Climate Fund as it is outlined in next year's federal budget," he said.
One of several instruments of Brazil's climate change policy, the Climate Fund is linked to the environment ministry and is administered by Bndes. It was created in 2009 and uses resources from oil and natural gas exploration to mitigate and combat climate change.
