Can BNDES Finance the Sustainable Green Transition? Alternatives to Leveraging the Bank’s Sources of Resources from Sovereign Wealth Funds

Abstract The green-sustainable transition demands a profound structural transformation of national economies, requiring stable, long-term public financing that can support investments with high uncertainty and delayed returns. Development banks are uniquely positioned to lead this process, as they combine technical expertise with a public mandate to promote structural change and social inclusion. In the case of Brazil, the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) has historically played this role; however, it has faced a progressive erosion of its funding base since 2016. Ensuring the effectiveness of BNDES as a key driver of the green transition depends on restoring access to stable sources of financing. In this context, sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) offer a viable institutional solution: as liability-free, intergenerational public savings, they are well suited to finance long-term sustainable investments. This article examines the potential of SWFs as viable and strategic funding instruments for the green transition. SWFs are intergenerational public savings, making them particularly well suited to finance climate mitigation, adaptation, and biodiversity conservation. The article proposes the creation – or reconfiguration – of a national SWF in Brazil with a clear mandate to channel resources to development banks, especially BNDES, in order to finance the transition within a framework of long-term sustainability and social inclusion.