The Brazilian presidency of the COP30 climate talks unveiled a voluntary deforestation roadmap on 3 November, following months of international collaboration. The initiative emerged after Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called for such a roadmap during the lead-up to the Belém summit. While nearly 100 countries expressed support for the proposal during COP30—including the EU and the 56-member Coalition for Rainforest Nations—formal consensus could not be reached among all 196 parties required for inclusion in the official negotiated text. Consequently, the roadmap proceeded as a standalone voluntary instrument outside the formal COP process.
The roadmap represents the latest phase in a succession of international forest protection initiatives. Previous commitments include the 2014 New York Declaration on Forests, the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use from COP26, and the 2030 deforestation reversal target established at COP28 in Dubai. Unlike these earlier pledges, the new roadmap explicitly does not introduce additional commitments or reopen existing agreements. Instead, it aims to operationalize existing commitments by providing coordinated, country-specific action frameworks that account for varying national circumstances and implementation challenges.
The roadmap was developed following an open consultation process conducted by the COP30 presidency and the Climate Policy Initiative. The secretariat received over 200 contributions from countries, civil society organizations, Indigenous peoples, academic institutions, and private sector representatives. The document organizes forest action across three pillars: national efforts, international coordination mechanisms, and financial tools. Within national action, the roadmap identifies 18 distinct policy approaches countries can employ, ranging from establishing protected areas and recognizing Indigenous territorial rights to implementing pest management and restricting forest conversion permits.
At the launch event, COP30 presidency representative André Corrêa do Lago highlighted Brazil’s recent deforestation reduction, noting a decline exceeding 70 percent since 2022. The roadmap was presented as a “living document” intended to provide practical pathways for climate action as countries approach the COP31 summit.
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