Brazilian philanthropy arrived at COP30 in Belém ready to highlight practical, on-the-ground climate solutions for the future of climate finance in the Global South.

Renata Piazzon, CEO of Instituto Arapyaú, sat down with Alliance to discuss how philanthropy, local communities, and innovative projects are driving conservation, sustainable agriculture, and clean energy—and what she was most looking forward to at COP30. According to Piazzon, the Global South isn’t waiting for solutions. It’s leading the way into the future of climate finance, turning climate ambition into measurable, real-world change.

Elika Roohi: Tell me about the work of Instituto Arapyaú, advancing the future of climate finance.

Renata Piazzon: Instituto Arapyaú is a Brazilian philanthropy that works to promote sustainable development by connecting climate, nature, and people. We don’t do anything alone—complex challenges need systemic solutions. We often say: there’s always a simple, fast solution that’s 100 percent wrong for the future of climate finance. So in our work, we bring together everyone—private sector, philanthropy, academia, civil society, government—to create long-term partnerships for climate solutions. That’s what we’ve been doing for the last 17 years, connecting climate and development.

What has Instituto Arapyaú been doing for the future of climate finance in the global climate summit spaces, like Latin America Climate Week and COP30?

This year especially, we’ve been intentional about bringing Brazil’s solutions to global forums to advance the future of climate finance. We started this work in Davos, then London Climate Week, New York Climate Week, and now COP30. The President and CEO of COP30 asked us to support a handbook of solutions Brazil is already offering globally. We launched it at London Climate Week, showcasing over 70 initiatives across agriculture, forests, energy, and the circular economy. The goal is to shift the narrative: Brazil isn’t just a country that needs climate finance—it’s a country offering scalable solutions.

Philanthropy can help qualify the debate in these spaces and amplify local examples that show development and conservation can coexist. We can scale solutions by providing fast capital—urgent, patient capital that takes risks. Philanthropy plays a key role in demonstrating concrete, on-the-ground examples that originated through blended finance—philanthropy, private investment, and public capital—and showing that solutions can scale for the future of climate finance.

Read the full article about climate finance in the Global South by Elika Roohi at Alliance Magazine.