Nature at COP30: Priorities for Belém

As we get closer to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil on 10 November, the world stands at a pivotal moment. It is 30 years since the first UN climate summit and 10 years since the Paris Agreement. The ‘global stocktake’ means that focus has shifted from setting targets to delivering measurable outcomes.

This year’s summit will be held in the Amazon, a region vital for both biodiversity and economic resilience. The World Bank estimates that this vast piece of natural infrastructure contributes at least US$317 billion every year through ecosystem services such as regulating rainfall, storing carbon, sustaining fisheries, and supporting local livelihoods[1].

We believe protecting natural assets like the Amazon is not just an environmental imperative, it is an investment in long-term business resilience and economic stability. 

We’ve been engaging with policymakers and companies on the key drivers of nature loss – including deforestation – for several years.

Our focus areas will evolve to concentrate on water management (particularly for companies operating in high-risk regions), as well as broader land management, enabling solutions that will accelerate the transition (such as the circular economy and valuing nature), and the critical nexus between climate and nature.

While nature is addressed through a separate COP process under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, it is positive that Brazil will highlight nature at COP30. Climate change is among the five direct drivers influencing changes in nature, and it is evident that achieving the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework objectives requires simultaneous attention to climate issues (and vice versa, as articulated in the Paris Agreement).

So, what will we be following closely at the so-called ‘COP of the Forests’?

·         Land management and deforestation 

In 2021 at COP26 in Glasgow, 140 countries, representing over 85% of the world’s forests, pledged to halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030. We joined 30 other investors in signing the financial sector commitment to eliminate commodity-driven deforestation from portfolios on a best-efforts basis, to which we will be reporting on our progress and engagement before the end of the year. 

Despite efforts to address deforestation, challenges remain and require global coordinated action. For example, progress is required on policies such as the EU’s Deforestation Regulation which faces increasing delays. We would encourage the development of a ‘COP30 Forest Action Plan or ‘Delivery Roadmap’’ to refocus governments’ implementation of their 2030 commitment.

On the financing side, we will closely follow the Brazil-backed Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF), which is aimed at mobilising private capital at scale. The TFFF aims to raise US$125 billion through blended finance, rewarding forest countries for reducing deforestation and supporting Indigenous communities. If successful, this could signal a shift toward more investable nature solutions.

And finally, the broader agricultural system. This is both a major contributor to nature loss and a key sector for nature-based solutions. Transitioning to regenerative agriculture is essential for long-term food system resilience and the protection of nature. We hope to see clearer policy signals, reforming existing fiscal incentives (which we also have worked on), to support farmers to adopt regenerative approaches and support the transition.

·         Water management

We would like to see stronger recognition of freshwater and marine ecosystems in outcome documents, particularly around river and wetland protection, transboundary water cooperation, and integrated water resource management. We will also be closely following how the alignment with the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) freshwater targets, especially halting degradation of rivers, lakes, and wetlands by 2030, will be a key benchmark for success. We're strengthening our focus on water use and management across freshwater and marine systems, recognising that unsustainable exploitation, pollution, and habitat alteration are key drivers of nature change identified by IPBES[2]. The groundwork laid here at Belém can help shape the UN’s major summit on water in 2026.

·         Nature as a solution 

From mangrove restoration to peatland protection, nature-based solutions (NbS) offer a dual dividend: they sequester carbon and restore ecosystems, while avoiding trade-offs that often plague engineered solutions. So, alongside progress on regenerative agriculture as mentioned above, we will be looking for progress on tracking and measuring NbS outcomes, and whether there’s momentum toward robust standards that ensure integrity and avoid greenwashing.

Addressing nature degradation requires establishing a true value for nature within our economies. This is a hugely complex task advanced by the 2021 Dasgupta Review on the ‘economics of biodiversity’. One area highlighted is requiring the assessment of how we all depend upon (and impact) nature, which we believe can be practically solved by the Taskforce for Nature related Financial Disclosures (TNFD). At Belém, the TNFD will announce new ‘adopters’ (which L&G already is), and publish papers on nature in transition plans, data improvements and guidance on how asset managers can ask better questions on nature. We look forward to their release and strongly recommend companies, regulators, and stakeholders such as stock exchanges, adopt TNFD urgently.

·         Policy alignment

We will be watching for greater policy coherence across the UNFCCC[3], CBD[4], and ocean conventions. Nature cannot remain siloed to the GBF, it must be integrated across policy and regulation. The integration of nature into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)[5] is a litmus test. Countries are being urged to embed NbS into their 2035 climate plans, not as footnotes, but as core strategies, and alignment with the KMGBF will be essential.

Inevitably, there will be lots of noise and attention around who is, or isn’t, at COP30. However, we urge everyone to look past this and focus on topics and solutions that can accelerate the transition and increase long-term business resilience and economic stability.

 
[1] World Bank, A Balancing Act for Brazil’s Amazonian States: An Economic Memorandum, May 2023
[2] Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
[3] United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
[4] Convention on Biological Diversity
[5] Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are each country's individual climate strategy under the Paris Agreement. They set out how a country plans to cut its greenhouse gas emissions and respond to climate change impacts, all in support of the global goal to keep warming below 1.5ºC. Countries are expected to revise and strengthen their NDCs every five years, reflecting their evolving capabilities and increasing ambition over time.