At the Leaders’ Summit on November 7, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva urged countries to support the Belém 4X Pledge on Sustainable Fuels. The pledge was co-sponsored by Brazil, Italy, and Japan and endorsed by 16 more countries in advance of the Leaders’ Summit. BCSE member Molecule Group and the Biofuture Platform played an integral role in bringing industry views into the drafting of the goal.
“Belém 4x” aims to provide political support and foster international cooperation to at least quadruple the use of sustainable fuels by 2035.
Brazil indicated that they will use their 2026 COP Presidency to increase the number of countries supporting this initiative. Initial signatories include Armenia, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Guatemala, Guinea, India, Italy, Japan, Maldives, Mexico, Mozambique, Myanmar, the Netherlands, Panama, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Sudan, and Zambia.
The Pledge is underpinned by IEA’s recent Delivering Sustainable Fuels report, which outlines a pathway to achieve 4X sustainable fuels under existing policy frameworks. Sustainable fuels include hydrogen, hydrogen derivatives, biogas, biofuels, and synthetic fuels.
Molecule Group welcomes the Belém 4X Pledge as an important signal that sustainable fuels are fundamental to achieving energy security, fostering sustainable development, and mitigating climate change.
In anticipation of COP30, Molecule Group convened sustainable industries to convey policy and innovation priorities to Brazil’s incoming COP30 Presidency. These efforts culminated in Molecule Group CEO Gerard Ostheimer presenting a Sustainable Industries Letter to now COP30 Brazil President André Aranha Corrêa do Lago in a joint meeting between the Brazilian Government, IEA, CEM during Climate Week NYC.
The Sustainable Industries letter communicated Sustainable Fuels Industry Principles that Molecule Group developed by convening industry leaders from around the world throughout 2025. Molecule Group is pleased to see considerable alignment between the principles espoused in the Belém 4X Pledge on Sustainable Fuelsand the Sustainable Fuels Industry Principles. Importantly, these complementary documents support policy levers designed to ensure GHG reductions and sustainability, that if implemented will remedy concerns regarding the sustainability of biofuels and sustainable molecules more broadly.
Molecule Group congratulates the Governments of Brazil, Italy, and Japan on this global milestone. We look forward to serving as a catalyst for solving policy issues that will help the world implement a quadrupling of sustainable fuels, and the broader environmental and economic goals outlined in the Pledge.