Financing the Global South is crucial for advancing climate and social justice, ensuring that funds reach those most affected and driving inclusive solutions.

By Vitor Hugo Neia*

COP30, scheduled for November this year in Belém (Brazil), offers the country a rare opportunity: to place the solutions of Amazonian territories – and of the entire Global South – at the center of climate and biodiversity decision-making. Networks of community funds from Latin America, Africa, and Asia are already channeling resources directly to those who protect ecosystems and face extreme events. By redistributing power and capital, they are redesigning the architecture of climate finance, proving that solutions arise in the territories and only require agile, trust-based financial flows to scale up. COP30 could consolidate this turning point.

The urgency of a new climate finance pact becomes clear in light of recent facts that expose the severity of the scenario. In 2024, the world recorded the hottest year in history, with the global average temperature surpassing the 1.5°C threshold compared to pre-industrial levels. At the same time, projections indicate that emerging economies will need at least $11 trillion in investments by 2030 to secure adaptation and mitigation actions. Added to this is the fact that philanthropy focused on the climate crisis still represents less than 2% of global private resources — and, of this amount, only 10% reaches community-based initiatives, while less than 1% goes directly to Indigenous peoples, who are the main guardians of critical ecosystems. The paradox is evident: those who protect the most and suffer the most remain on the margins of major financial flows.

In this context, The Global South House gains relevance as a platform that will bring together networks of community funds from Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia during COP30. By acting as a bridge between major funders and local organizations, the initiative shows that it is possible to mobilize agile, trust-based investments directly to those already developing solutions in their territories. When Amazonian, quilombola, and peripheral communities receive long-term resources, they simultaneously advance biome restoration, low-carbon income generation, and the reduction of inequalities.

However, achieving scale requires new commitments. The Brazilian private sector must recognize that its future competitiveness will be directly linked to decarbonized value chains and resilient territories. National philanthropy must go beyond occasional charitable giving and allocate a greater share of its budgets to the climate crisis, adopting transparent metrics and long-term horizons – with plans spanning a decade or more. Policymakers, in turn, can accelerate this shift by creating tax incentives, green credit instruments, and regulatory frameworks that prioritize community-based initiatives.

The planet has already entered a zone of climate danger. What is at stake is not only the average global temperature, but the ability of entire peoples to build a future in which development and conservation go hand in hand. Financing the leadership of the Global South is an indispensable condition for COP30 to become a true turning point – and not just another conference of postponed promises.

*Vitor Hugo Neia is CEO of Fundação Grupo Volkswagen, where he has worked since 2018. He holds a master’s degree in Social History from the University of São Paulo (USP) and has extensive experience in planning, managing, and implementing third-sector initiatives, with a focus on productive inclusion, community development, and reducing social inequalities.