At COP30, the world will debate targets; in the territories, it is grassroots economic organisations that turn targets into results.
UNICAFES (União Nacional das Cooperativas de Agricultura Familiar e Economia Solidária) brings together 1 million members in 1,500 co-operatives across Brazil, 83% of which already implement actions to tackle climate change, according to a recent survey by the network. This capillarity combines with democratic governance. For example, UNICAFES pioneered gender parity in the governing bodies of the co-operatives it represents – showing how institutional design matters: when women lead and decide, investments in adaptation, restoration and efficiency gain scale and staying power.
This moment is also symbolic. We are living through the UN Decade of Family Farming (2019–2028), which places family farmers at the centre of sustainable food systems, conservation and poverty eradication under the leadership of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UN system. The 2025 UN International Year of Cooperatives recognises the role of co-operatives in inclusive development and decent work. In 2026, during the UN International Year of Rural Women, the trade-and-climate agenda will have an opportunity to acknowledge, even more strongly, women’s leadership in the productive and energy transitions already underway in local territories.
On the international trade front, the logic is straightforward: a substantial share of Scope 3 emissions (all indirect greenhouse gas emissions that result from a company’s activities) in major value chains lies among small suppliers — co-operatives and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Accelerating global decarbonisation requires fully including these actors in standards, finance and markets. The International Trade Centre (ITC) works precisely at this frontier: it connects SMEs and co-operatives to market intelligence, standards compliance, trade facilitation and buyers in 200+ countries and territories.
On the regulatory agenda, ITC has published practical guides on the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and delivers training so co-operatives and SMEs can meet geolocation, due diligence and MRV requirements — an essential step to access and keep markets in the EU. Recent evidence also reinforces that agrifood accounts for a significant share of global emissions, which makes it urgent to support food producers in shifting to low-carbon, nature-positive practices.
In Brazil, experience shows that local development and sustainable trade reinforce one another. When a co-operative strengthens management, quality, traceability and product design, it opens doors to public and private purchasing, shortens chains, keeps forests standing and pays better those who care for the territory. Sociobiodiversity, a concept that refers to the inseparable connection between social diversity and biological diversity (from honey and native fruits, cocoa to açaí), is both a competitive and a climate asset. Strengthening family-based enterprises generates income where nature is the principal asset, with direct benefits for forest peoples, Indigenous communities and traditional populations.
We are also witnessing new forest finance architectures. The recently launched Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF) proposes a large-scale mechanism to reward countries that keep their forests — a move that, if well designed, can turbocharge community and co-operative value chains by aligning conservation, inclusion and responsible exports.
Given this context, we propose five steps for immediate implementation:
- Nationally Determined Contributions, which are climate action plans submitted by each country under the Paris Agreement, with co-operatives — specific targets, programmes and indicators (energy, logistics, low-carbon agriculture, services) with proportional metrics and technical support.
- Finance that reaches the base — dedicated windows in public and multilateral banks for sociobiodiversity value chains, with guarantees, blended finance and working-capital products tied to technical assistance and simplified reporting standards.
- Feasible Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR) compliance — adoption of ITC tools and guides for geolocation, due diligence and MRV; mutual recognition and digitalisation to lower compliance costs.
- Purchasing that pulls the transition — nature-positive criteria in public and corporate procurement with participation targets for co-operatives and SMEs, rapidly reducing Scope 3 emissions.
- Bioeconomy with a market — origin branding policies, certifications and buyer access to turn nature-based solutions into recurring contracts and quality jobs.
UNICAFES brings scale, legitimacy and democratic governance; ITC contributes tools, standards and market access. Together, we can accelerate co-operative preparedness for EUDR and other international requirements; expand women’s participation in export value chains; and connect Brazil’s sociobiodiversity to global opportunities with strong social and environmental safeguards.
The message from Belém to the world is simple: when women lead and co-operatives thrive, the climate wins, forests endure and local economies flourish. May COP30 — at the heart of the Decade of Family Farming and the International Year of Cooperatives — be remembered as the COP that placed economic democracy, gender equity and fair trade at the centre of the transition.
