COP30: Sustainable investors’ wishlist

PA Future asked sustainable investment professionals what they would like to see come out of COP30, and the answer was clearly centred around accountability, action and measurable progress.

In the 30th Conference of Parties (COP30), starting on 10 November in Brazil, leaders, policymakers and investors will congregate to discuss progress made on the Paris Agreement and previous pledges made at COPs.

Sustainable investors indicated they want to see a “climate reset” or “commitments turned into action” this year, with progress clearly measured. With it being held in a country that hold two thirds of the world’s rainforest within its borders, they also want to see how nature will be integrated into infrastructure plans, and clarity on zero-deforestation goals.

See more: PA Future coverage of COP30 so far

Below, commentators share their COP30 wishlists:

Jenn-Hui Tan, chief sustainability officer, Fidelity International 

This year’s COP30 is billed as an implementation COP at which discussion will focus on setting in motion actions already agreed. None is perhaps as pressing as ensuring that companies and countries start to address adaptation investment as an economic imperative. 

COP30 has put adaptation high on the agenda – featuring it on the first day of the Conference – but it must also drive tangible progress in on-the-ground delivery and financing to meet the Global Goal on Adaptation set out in the Paris Agreement. Too many government adaptation plans where they exist set out high level ambitions without the necessary localised policy instruments to crowd in private investment or track progress. Companies most exposed to climate change are beginning to act where possible but require support to deliver collectively for communities. 

Water scarcity and quality issues are often the most immediate way in which companies and communities globally are starting to experience climate and nature effects. Sustaining the world’s water resources is both a moral responsibility and a financial necessity. To make this happen, COP30 must deliver policy momentum – particularly on cross-border transition financing and support for the expansion of blue-themed fixed income markets which have the scale and sophistication to meet this challenge and provide investment opportunities. Allocating capital to adaptation and the blue economy isn’t just good environmental policy, it’s good business.

Alienor Hammer, COP specialist and environmental research analyst, Osmosis 

At COP30, we should stop treating “markets or regulation” as an either-or debate. Real progress depends on both — one sets ambition, the other scales impact. The world needs them working together, and quickly.

Ambition without accountability has brought us to this point. NDCs must move beyond promises and deliver measurable reductions. They should reward real performance, not delay it — and recognise that the corporate sector isn’t the problem. It’s part of the solution.

For too long, policy has obsessed over shutting down the old, instead of scaling the efficient. Decommissioning matters, but efficiency is what delivers real, economy-wide progress. Businesses are already showing what’s possible: expanding renewables, developing new technologies, and investing in smarter systems that cut emissions while creating value.

Water scarcity and waste mismanagement amplify climate risks. These are not side issues — they are central to resilience. COP30 must elevate water and waste efficiency, especially in high-impact sectors like agriculture and AI. They can lead, but only if standards reward tangible progress.

Finally, ambition on biodiversity, forests, and oceans must move from intent to implementation. Regulation can define the baseline; markets can accelerate delivery. COP30 should be remembered as the turning point from pledges to measurable progress.

David Gorman, investment analyst, Castlefield 

COP30 in Brazil comes as the world endures another year of climate change impact combined with great geopolitical turmoil, when governments feel they have other priorities. The political weather is unfavourable, with the US resigning for a second time as a signatory to the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, so we don’t think we’ll see any game-changing announcements this year. Instead, we’re hoping to see national governments put forward their new climate plans, or Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which they’re expected to do every five years. The formal deadline for submitting new NDC’s was 10^th February this year, but 95% of governments missed it. This doesn’t augur well, but we’d like nations to come to COP30 with ambitious, well-formulated plans. 

To head off the criticism that COPs are just for political grandstanding, we’d also like to see this edition mark the start of a shift to a post-negotiation phase, i.e. less talking, more doing. One positive step would be to send the funds already committed at previous COPs to support the developing countries most affected by climate change to build resilience. 

Johann Plé, senior portfolio manager, AXA IM

Financing and delivery will be key parts of the discussion at COP30. 

We hope this incites greater use of solutions-driven, climate financing instruments like green bonds. Green bonds are an efficient instrument in this context as they provide the transparency needed to track the contribution, delivery and attainment of global goals while attracting and mobilizing private sector capital to complement public funding.

In this way, green bonds are part of the toolkit needed to advance concretely on the pledges made at COP28:

• Countries committed to (1) tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030, and (2) doubling the annual rate of energy efficiency improvements until 2030.
• Countries also agreed to a resolution to take actions to ‘transition away from fossil fuels’ (More precisely, ‘in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050’).

While the green bond market has seen impressive growth over the last decade, propelled by the Paris Agreement, climate negotiations remind us that large funding gaps prevail and financial instruments like these are actually well-positioned to help close that gap. 

It is important to note that green bonds are not just about renewable energy, energy efficiency or decarbonisation: they also help finance solutions to wider themes that are very much on the public agenda.

Climate adaptation, for instance, will be an important topic at COP30, reflecting insufficient progress that has been made here. Although still a relative niche category within green bonds, typically representing 2-3% of overall project allocation, we believe there is a clear untapped potential to finance more projects related to resilience. Green bonds can serve as a vector to redirect private capital to emerging markets, which are key to the discussion on resilience. 

Depending on the ambitions and targets that are set at COP30, we may see more adaption infrastructure projects emerge, particularly in terms of coastal resilience and flood protection. These could be funded by sovereign or supranational green bonds.

Nature and biodiversity are other key areas where green bonds can help finance projects, particularly in relation to sustainable agriculture, reforestation and conservation.

Will Farrell, co-lead for climate change stewardship at EOS, Federated Hermes Limited

Federated Hermes will be represented at COP30 by a small delegation (single figures) including CEO, Saker Nusseibeh CBE, at the summit in both Belem and Sao Paulo. We will also be attending the PRI in Person.

Through the work of our global investment teams and stewardship business, we have a deep and broad insight into the systematic challenges at play around real economy transition implementation which currently constrain a faster and scalable global climate transition. In order for us to try and mitigate this, and ultimately deliver investment returns for our clients, we will offer our perspectives to governments and industry leaders on how they may chart a path forwards, most effectively unlock transition finance, and move from ambition to implementation.

As has been often repeated in recent COPs, effective and coordinated action is required by governments, finance and industry. Previous COPs have under delivered. To be effective, the gap between funding public and the private sector needs to be bridged. Action needs to be taken by governments to allow and catalyse transition technologies to be invested in, that is profitable for companies and delivers superior returns to the end investor. Equally, companies and investors must grasp the opportunity to fund and build businesses that meet the environmental and societal needs of the ordinary citizen including access to affordable to energy and food and jobs.

COP30 will be a defining moment for Brazil to demonstrate leadership on forests, nature, and the just transition. Hosted in Belém – at the heart of the Amazon – it carries huge symbolic and political weight, linking climate ambition to social inclusion and the protection of biodiversity. Brazil’s updated NDC and its flagship initiatives such as the Tropical Forests Forever Facility aim to combine climate action with sustainable economic development, including illuminating the progress needed to forge a sustainable transition for agriculture – a significant contributor to Brazil’s GDP and global food security. For Federated Hermes Limited, this creates an opportunity to position ourselves as a constructive partner in translating these ambitions into investable outcomes – across forest conservation, transition finance, and nature-positive solutions.

We recognise the significance of the COP as the single multilateral forum gathering almost 200 world leaders and their supporting delegations to resolve the complex trade-offs intrinsic to one of the global economy’s most systemic challenges. This provides a welcome opportunity for industry and government to engage in open and energetic dialogues. We look forward to playing a part in driving forward real implementation opportunities.

Rob Gardner, CEO & co-founder, Rebalance Earth

My wish for COP30: Treat Nature as core infrastructure, especially the Amazon. Price its resilience as an investible asset class. When nature collapses, so do portfolios.

It’s time to act.

We act like only grey infrastructure matters. We price concrete, steel, and tech, but never nature, the infrastructure upon which everything depends. Concrete might buy time. Nature buys the future.

The world risks losing $3trn in annual GDP from ecosystem decline by 2030, before accounting for cascading damage to supply chains, housing, and insurance. COP30 must be the turning point: ecosystems must be classified as critical, measurable, and investible infrastructure.

How do we achieve this shift? First, every national resilience plan must include nature as core infrastructure, on par with energy, transport, and digital infrastructure. New York City saved billions by protecting its watershed instead of building filtration plants: proof that green beats grey.

Second, generate investible cashflows for resilience. Payments for ecosystem services can turn restoration into revenue. Pension funds need cashflow, not goodwill.

Third, mobilise UK place-based capital. Align Mansion House reforms with natural infrastructure to unlock LGPS and DC investment, restore catchments, protect communities, and strengthen portfolios.

In fact, allocating just 2% to Nature could help de-risk the other 98%.

We need to act now. My wish for COP30 is that we seize this moment: commit to integrating nature into infrastructure plans, channel investments, and implement policies without delay. Let’s turn ambition into measurable action, starting today.

See also: From Baku to Belem: The road to COP 30

Simonetta Spavieri, climate engagement lead, active ownership manager, Schroders

Economy-wide greenhouse gas emission targets have signalled intent at previous COPs, but investors now need detailed policy frameworks and regulatory clarity to unlock capital at scale. Investors are looking for governments to clarify how Nationally Determined Contributions and National Adaptation Plans will incentivise and deliver credible, investable transition pathways. This means ensuring the wider policy framework provides incentives to encourage private investment into transition activities.

COP30 should reinforce cooperation, ensuring Just Transition mechanisms keep social and economic systems stable, mitigating policy volatility and protecting long-term asset value.

Investors want progress on scaling de-risking mechanisms such as guarantees, first-loss capital and concessional finance to unlock private capital, particularly in emerging and developing markets.

“Clear criteria and institutional coordination will be key to new climate finance goals mobilising capital effectively. Part of this relates to determining clear pathways for increasing private finance for nature-based solutions, including through the $1.3trn Baku to Belém Roadmap. We would also like to see policymakers work with financial institutions to integrate nature and adaptation into policy priorities and capital allocation.

Investors would welcome clarity into 2030 zero-deforestation goals through co-ordinated and stable international policy frameworks to address both the supply and demand sides of deforestation.

Jonathan Maxwell, founder and CEO, Sustainable Development Capital  

Conversations at COP30 need to centre on commercially viable sustainability. Negotiators need to consider the delivery of energy services like power and heat at lower cost and greater reliability than the grid in both developed and developing countries. When policymakers discuss energy waste, they should be careful not to direct blame towards the general population. The reality is that nearly two-thirds of energy is commercial, industrial and public sector use, it is crucial to direct regulatory and policy resource there rather than guilt tripping ordinary people.

The technology exists today to deliver cheaper, lower-carbon solutions everywhere, particularly when built close to the point of use or, in other words, ‘decentralised’. Just because centralised generation has been the status quo for much of recent history, it doesn’t mean countries need to continue to rely so heavily on an approach that wastes the majority of energy generated. Let’s not put good money after bad.

Efficiency should be the lens through which all clean energy decisions are viewed. If an application, fossil or otherwise, is expensive for the energy service it delivers, or if it fails to convert a primary energy fuel source into useful energy efficiently, don’t do it.

Mathieu Nègre, head of impact investing, UBP

COP30 arrives at a pivotal moment for climate action. The COP30 president has called for accelerated implementation of the Paris Agreement, hoping this will be a summit of solutions. This year we hope the following can be achieved:

• Continued commitment: The US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement marks a major change, but the fact that no other country has left remains a success – long may it last. Around one-third of nations have announced their 2035 pledges, we expect to hear from the EU and India soon. Continued engagement, even with less ambitious targets, highlights that most of the world remains committed to progress on climate change.
• More ideas about a ‘corporate reset’: The past two years have been challenging amid an ‘ESG backlash.’ Yet UBP’s Impact Equity team believes asset managers and portfolio companies can play a positive role. COP30 may even spark new ideas, whether to renew ambitions or pursue a ‘climate reset’, as Michael Liebreich suggests.
• Continued convergence with nature and a price for carbon: We hope to see a focus on food systems, given the sector’s importance in Brazil, and a spotlight on nature-based solutions to climate change. Finally, carbon pricing remains on our wish list as it could be a major step forward.

Nicola Day, deputy head of Rathbone Greenbank Investments

COP30 takes place at a critical time, as sustained temperature rises, and catastrophic weather patterns warn that climate change is no longer a distant risk but a systemic threat today to economies, markets, and investments.

First, ambition in national plans must take centre stage. Under the Paris Agreement, countries were due in 2025 to update their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) — formal climate plans outlining emission and adaptation goals, however many have not yet submitted revisions. Stronger, time-bound NDCs must form the backbone of negotiations to drive real policy ambition.

Second, finance will dominate discussions. The Baku-to-Belém roadmap, established after COP29’s deadlock on a new finance goal, sets a path to mobilise $1.3trn a year by 2035, focusing on how public and private capital can be deployed effectively.

Third, with COP30 in the heart of the Amazon, it is an opportunity to advance practical frameworks for scaling nature-based solutions that promote sustainable land use and forest protection. Brazil’s Tropical Forest Forever Facility offers an innovative solution for how natural capital and economic growth can work together, and how private capital can play a role.

COPs are not a cure-all for the climate challenge, but they remain vital for aligning nations on ambition, solutions, and the finance to turn commitments into action.