BELÉM, Brazil—As the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) comes to a close, the weather here has been mixed, with intermittent storm clouds followed by periods of sun. Fittingly, the varying weather matches the mood among many COP30 participants in the Blue Zone, where the negotiations happen and where our Center’s Resilience Hub is located.
On the one hand, voices of doubt are rising from some negotiating groups on the ability of the Brazilian presidency and the multilateral process to deliver an ambitious package of decisions that deliver real impact, particularly on finance for adaptation for the least developed countries and small island states. But on the other hand, it is heartening that the heat and humidity of the Amazon have not slowed momentum on elevating the importance of adaptation, resilience, and the role of private finance. Holding this COP in the Amazon rainforest has sharpened the focus for many stakeholders, serving as a powerful reminder that strengthening climate adaptation will require forward-looking climate finance that includes private sector investment.
The private sector—particularly insurers, banks, asset managers, and other financial institutions—has the analytics, risk expertise, and growing appetite to engage in adaptation and resilience finance. And they are ready to work on devising the right investment vehicles to channel that much-needed finance. What they need now are strong policy signals, stable regulatory environments, and practical mechanisms from governments that can connect capital to projects.
Throughout COP30, there has been a recognition that the public and private sectors cannot act alone when it comes to climate finance.
One of the most notable developments at this year’s COP was the announcement of the National Adaptation Plans (NAP) Implementation Alliance. Led by the governments of Germany, Italy, and Brazil, as well as the United Nations Development Programme, with the support of the Atlantic Council’s Climate Resilience Center, this initiative aims to improve coherence in the complex ecosystem of financing for NAPs. Streamlining NAP financing will be critical to enable the flow of more public and private resources for climate adaptation and resilience. Over the next year, this initiative will bring together representatives from the private financial sector, multilateral development banks, civil society organizations, the public sector, and other stakeholders to find ways to improve collective action to support the implementation of NAPs.
For the private sector, this means greater visibility into future projects and greater confidence in the investment environment. For governments, it means being better equipped to design projects that meet investor expectations while delivering local resilience benefits.
The Atlantic Council’s Climate Resilience Center, along with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), will play a vital role in the alliance through Fostering Investable National Planning and Implementation for Adaptation & Resilience (FINI). Announced at a high-level session during the first week of COP30 with representatives of the governments of Australia and Switzerland, FINI is mobilizing more than one hundred actors from civil society, multilateral entities, philanthropy, and the private sector that are already advancing adaptation investments around the world.
Another remarkable development at COP30 was the announcement that fifty-three countries have committed a combined $5.5 billion to the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF). The TFFF incentivizes the conservation and expansion of tropical forests by making annual payments to tropical forest countries that maintain their standing forest. The initiative is especially notable within the climate community because of its proposed hybrid financing model. The TFFF will mix sovereign and philanthropic funding to de-risk investments on forest conservation, regenerative agriculture, and agroforestry that sustain standing forests. This, in turn, will help attract commercial capital toward these activities.
Throughout COP30, there has been a recognition that the public and private sectors cannot act alone when it comes to climate finance. The announcements and initiatives that have been launched so far at this year’s summit reflected a broad shift: the conversation is no longer about whether private finance should engage in adaptation and resilience, but how quickly financial ecosystems and policy frameworks can be aligned to deliver project pipelines to respond at the scale and speed that climate change requires.
Jorge Gastelumendi is the senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Climate Resilience Center. He formerly served as chief advisor and negotiator to the government of Peru, playing a critical role during the adoption of the Paris Agreement in the government’s dual role as president of COP20 and co-chair of the Green Climate Fund’s board.
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Image: November 15, 2025, Belem, Brazil: The entrance of the COP30 venue lit up at night. A military police stands guard. Credit Image: © Bianca Otero/ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect.
