Brazil to launch a blended-finance auction aimed at raising up to $2 billion for sustainable land restoration, with a focus on degraded pastures.

The initiative combines $1B in public funds from the Climate Fund with a required 1.5x private capital leverage—60% of which must come from international sources.

The program supports Brazil’s ecological transformation goals and could become the world’s largest land restoration effort.

A landmark blended-finance initiative

Brazil is launching an ambitious auction aimed at raising up to $2 billion in financing for sustainable land restoration under its Eco Invest Brazil program. The initiative, officially announced by the ministries of Finance, Agriculture, and Environment, combines public capital with private investment to restore degraded land, particularly pastures.

The program will deploy approximately $1 billion in catalytic capital from Brazil’s Climate Fund, leveraging at least 1.5 times that amount in private capital. Participating banks will need to secure a minimum of $500 million in private investment. The total funding could reach $2 billion, depending on the competitiveness of the investor proposals.

“We aim, in the best-case scenario, to recover around 1 million hectares. It’s quite aggressive,” said Brazil’s Treasury Secretary Rogério Ceron. The auction is expected to draw global institutional capital, setting a precedent for large-scale, climate-aligned investment in emerging markets.

OneStop ESG Marketplace: Explore sustainable land restoration projects that unlock scalable finance solutions—like Brazil’s Eco Invest program—to rehabilitate degraded lands and drive global climate goals.

A globally appealing, scalable initiative

The auction is designed to attract global investors, with a focus on leveraging international capital. A minimum of 60% of the leveraged capital must come from international sources. The remaining 40% could be raised domestically. A regulatory decree will be issued this week, giving financial institutions 45 days to submit proposals, with the highest private leverage proposals winning the auction.

“This effort could become the largest land restoration initiative in the world,” Ceron emphasized. The auction also supports Brazil’s broader ecological transformation goals and is aligned with the National Program for the Conversion of Degraded Pastures, which aims to rehabilitate underproductive land and increase food production without contributing to deforestation.

Reinforcing Brazil’s ecological transformation agenda

The Eco Invest Brazil initiative is positioned as a key part of Brazil’s long-term ecological transformation agenda. The blended finance structure, combining public and private investment, aims to unlock substantial capital for environmental restoration, with the potential to scale in a way that supports Brazil’s broader climate and sustainability goals.

“We are confident that there is appetite for leverage that could bring $1 billion in private capital to match the $1 billion from public funds,” said Ceron.

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