Deforestation-Free Finance: Complete Roadmap updated with expanded guidance for Brazil’s cattle sector

Global Canopy has updated the Finance Sector Roadmap for Eliminating Commodity-Driven Deforestation. This includes new information specific to Brazil’s cattle sector, displayed alongside the Roadmap’s broader recommendations.

We also present a complete Roteiro de Finanças Livres de Desmatamento, a Portuguese-language Roadmap customised for financial institutions to address the risks and opportunities of the Brazilian cattle supply chain (also available in English). It comprises five key phases and a section on going above and beyond.

The Roteiro, which is built on the Finance Sector Roadmap, sets out practical steps financial institutions can take to address exposure to deforestation, conversion and associated human rights abuses, with a special focus on Brazilian cattle-related clients, holdings operations and supply chains.

Global Canopy supports capacity-building of financial institutions in Brazil to tackle deforestation, including piloting implementation of the Roteiro. We offer well-established guidance, frameworks and tools, and welcome further collaboration with financial institutions for practical action on deforestation exposure.

CAIXA is one of the Brazilian financial institutions that took part in the Deforestation-Free Finance pilot, supporting the development of the Roteiro.

Daniel Paulussi, Sustainable Finance Specialist at CAIXA, reflected:

“The regional approach and the creation of the working group helped make the topic feel more relevant to our reality,” Daniel continued.

“The project also helped bring the sustainability and rural credit departments closer together, creating space to think about strengthening internal controls and the feasibility of adopting the tools introduced throughout the process.

“The content and hands-on approach provided valuable insights that are already beginning to influence our daily work and decision-making.”

When the Roteiro launched in May 2025, it explained how financial institutions can:

• Map and understand risk (Phase 1)
  Set an effective deforestation policy and manage risks (Phase 2)

The new phases clarify how financial institutions can:

• Monitor and engage their clients and/or holdings (Phase 3)
• Transparently publish information about deforestation risk (Phase 4)
• Progress towards eliminating deforestation (Phase 5)
• Start providing finance for nature-positive and people-positive outcomes (Going above and beyond)

Across the Finance Sector Roadmap and the Roteiro, the best practice recommendations are accompanied by information specific to Brazil’s cattle sector, such as relevant datasets and tools. Both language versions give consideration to the Brazilian legal framework.

As world leaders gather in Belém for COP30, the spotlight is firmly on action – demonstrating how to turn commitments into practical, concrete outcomes.

Financial institutions have the opportunity to accelerate systemic change. Through their financing and stewardship approaches, financial institutions can transform the supply chains of the commodities with the greatest influence on deforestation.

“And the Roteiro can provide practical guidance on steering capital, reshaping supply chains and accelerating the systemic change needed to end deforestation,” Isadora added.

Recent months have seen financial institutions stepping up to this challenge, from the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance to Brazilian asset manager Régia Capital announcing plans for deforestation-free financing.

Global Canopy will take part in a range of events this summit season, including PRI in Person (4-6 November in São Paulo) and COP30 (10-21 November in Belém).

Our representatives are eager to share more about the Finance Sector Roadmap and Roteiro de Finanças Livres de Desmatamento and our other tools and frameworks in person.

• At PRI in Person, we’re co-hosting a side event on 5 November – “Finance Sector Leadership on Deforestation: From Risk to Action” – with WWF Brasil, in partnership with the Accountability Framework initiative and the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change. On 6 November, we’ll also join the Agri-Food Systems Summit for a food hackathon focused on transforming agri-food systems.
• At COP30, we’ll be taking part in a number of events, including a series of six panels on 17-18 November, as part of a WWF-led event in the Blue Zone exploring deforestation- and conversion-free supply chains.

This article was originally published on Global Canopy’s website.