Luciana Antonini Ribeiro comes from a successful investment background but always felt there was something missing. She felt that not only could she do more – she had an obligation to do more.

With experience investing in opportunities resulting from structural gaps in Brazil, Ribeiro was Founder and CEO of eB Climate and eB Capital, which solely focused on investments in clean energy and decarbonization solutions.

At the same time, she was also increasing her not-for-profit work and hosting events showcasing what Brazil could represent the search for climate change solutions, leading to her tenure as Chair of the Finance and Infrastructure Working Group for the B20 Brazil 2024.

“I knew capital needed to flow to the right projects, in the right regions, but it needed to be addressed differently from our traditional way of thinking, which is very straightforward and uses old instruments,” Ribeiro says.

“I needed to be more fluid to find new paths and new solutions – to bring innovation in financial instruments and connect the dots in new value chains.”

Lessons from the Amazon

As Ribeiro threw herself into these projects, they converged and changed the way she saw her role and how it mimicked an essential phenomenon in the beautiful region she calls home. This new approach aligned with the incredible ‘flying rivers’ of the Amazon.

“I was looking at the book Amazônia by photographer Sebastião Salgado and he managed to show the world the flying rivers of the Amazon region,” she says.

“The evaporation of water is so powerful it carries the water through the air, not only to the Amazon region, but throughout South America. For example, the productivity of Argentina is linked to the flying rivers of the Amazon region, it’s interconnected.

“When we launched our venture where we want to create innovation, new markets and interconnect regions, the name Flying Rivers Capital was very aligned.”

Along with the concept of moving capital where it is most needed and connecting companies and communities, the environment around Ribeiro has certainly helped grow the intention. In 2025, Brazil became the epicenter of environmental discussions and pledges as it hosted COP30.

“In the last few years, Brazil has brought a new narrative and leadership to climate investing,” she says. “The Brazilian government and private sector have been able to create an ecosystem which is very fruitful for climate investments.

“Brazil has enacted a number of new regulations in biofuels, hydrogen, recycling and carbon, which showcase that – for the country – climate is not only a question of environment but also of development.

“Because there was alignment between government and the private sector in understanding the competitive advantage, the financial instruments which were brought into reality address some of the problems and concerns international investors have.”

Examples of these include addressing the cost of capital investment and the foreign exchange risk.

Brazil is stepping forward with initiatives that will have global impact by involving other nations, such as the Tropical Forest Forever Facility, which was launched during COP30 in Belém and aims to secure the future of tropical forests around the world using an innovative financing solution.

Riberio believes this is an essential step forward. Also of utmost importance is the Sustainable Business COP (SB COP), which created a formal channel for businesses to engage in global climate action, acting as a bridge between the private sector and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on climate negotiations.

She was the Chair of the Finance Taskforce at the SB COP and says by providing a place for businesses to collaborate and share success, the Paris Agreement goals feel more attainable.

“We are shaping a new reality where the middle powers – and Brazil is one of those middle powers – are reshaping multilateralism and leadership on thematics that are relevant to the entire globe,” she adds.

“We were able to bring 65 organizations from around the globe together and had more than 40 million companies involved to deliver recommendations we thought were relevant for the government sector to understand from the private sector perspective.

“And we had a number of cases to illustrate how the private sector is putting in place and scaling up on already agreed principles in Brazil. I think my main highlight was how the private sector was closer to the entire conference, not only in the event, but throughout the year this time.”

Connection is the new competition

Ribeiro has seen how successful and scalable partnerships in different sectors can be. She believes future success lies in taking a holistic view.

“We really have to look into the whole process, all the steps for the market to be formed on that specific topic,” she says. “And you need to bring all sorts of capital – the financial sector, corporations, governments, development banks, multilateral banks, philanthropic capital – and put all these pieces together in the same moment.”

Ribeiro explains how she does this, bringing together smaller organizations to complete the process of, for example, creating a renewable fuel opportunity and offering them as a package to investors.

“Once we put that together, it became a very interesting commercial opportunity for investors looking for market returns,” she says.

“There was no company ready to go, I had to create the opportunity by bringing all these actors together and designing the transaction – the fluid element. It’s not a traditional way of investing.”

Shaping a better tomorrow

Ribeiro admits the transition from traditional business models to purpose-led can be intimidating, but it’s well worth the leap.

“When I’m investing, I’m looking for opportunities that really deliver for my investors, but at the same time it’s very fulfilling to do something good for the globe and for Brazil,” she says.

“As a Brazilian, I truly believe there is a big opportunity for the region to position itself as a leader in climate investing, and that’s where our competitive advantage is.”

And Ribeiro says it is important for founders and CEOs to find their own connections with like-minded people to expand their horizons to new possibilities. For her, this has been within leadership community YPO and the opportunity to meet a diverse range of leaders who have a common ethos.

“At YPO, the members believe we are part of something large and they want to connect,” she reflects. “They believe we are interconnected and we can do better if we are together. It’s believing in the power of collective action.”