India and Brazil Back Global Biofuel Push Ahead of COP30

India and Brazil are stepping up their collaboration to promote ethanol and other biofuels as part of a broader global initiative to cut carbon emissions before COP30 in Belém, Brazil, in 2025. The two countries, along with the U.S. and other partners, are supporting the “Belem 4x” plan - a pledge to quadruple the use of sustainable fuels by 2035. The move is positioned as a practical step to reduce fossil fuel dependence and boost rural economies.

In India, the government has already accelerated its ethanol blending program, achieving a 20% mix of ethanol with gasoline years ahead of its 2030 target. Officials claim the initiative lowers oil imports, supports sugarcane farmers, and cuts emissions. However, environmentalists argue that diverting crops to fuel can raise food prices and strain water resources.

Brazil, a global leader in ethanol production, is using its experience to guide new policy frameworks and encourage international partnerships. The country plans to showcase these efforts at COP30, emphasizing how biofuel technology can support both climate goals and energy security.

Experts say the growing India-Brazil cooperation could reshape the renewable fuel market if supported by coordinated standards, infrastructure, and incentives. Yet, the long-term sustainability of large-scale ethanol use remains under debate, especially as governments balance food security, energy needs, and climate targets.

The Belem 4x plan to quadruple sustainable fuels by 2035 combined with India-Brazil cooperation creates the coalition architecture that biofuel-scale-up requires. Individual-country biofuel programmes generate limited global impact; coordinated multi-country expansion with common standards and infrastructure investment can genuinely reshape global fuel markets.

The food-fuel-water tension is a genuine and unresolved concern. Sugarcane-based ethanol and corn-based ethanol carry different sustainability profiles; second-generation cellulosic biofuels avoid the food-competition issue but face commercialisation challenges. Long-term biofuel strategy credibility depends on how these trade-offs are managed.

For biofuel producers, agricultural aggregators, oil-and-gas companies with biofuel exposure, financial institutions and their sustainability advisors, Cognitud's energy transition, supply chain and operations and market intelligence teams help clients evaluate Belem-4x-linked opportunities, structure long-term commercial arrangements aligned with sustainable feedstock sourcing, and prepare disclosures aligned with ISSB and jurisdictional biofuel-sustainability frameworks including EUDR.