Brazil kickstarts new global forest fund ahead of COP30 

On Tuesday the 23rd of September, President Lula da Silva announced the first contribution to the fund during a high-level meeting at New York Climate Week. The aim is for this to be the start of a global mobilisation for rainforest protection in the run-up to this year’s climate conference, COP30, to be held in the Brazilian Amazon.

“Brazil is showing real leadership by being the first country with a funding contribution. It is remarkable that a tropical forest country is the first mover, with wealthier countries yet to commit. We therefore urge countries such as Norway, Germany, France and the UK to at least double the commitment from Brazil, said Toerris Jaeger,” Executive Director at Rainforest Foundation Norway.

The Tropical Forest Forever Facility is a new global fund to mobilise public and private support for rainforest protection. It has been endorsed by G20 and several individual countries, but not with financial commitments, until now.

“For life on Earth to thrive, we must safeguard all remaining tropical forests. We urgently need to make it more profitable to keep forests standing than destroyed. This is why it is so important for the Tropical Forest Forever Facility to succeed,” Jaeger said.

The Tropical Forest Forever Facility will provide results-based payments to countries with tropical forests that preserve their forest cover. The support will be paid annually based on the return from a fund with loans from sponsor countries and investments from private investors.

Tropical forest countries will receive support from the return on the fund, which means that the mechanism is not dependent on annual donor transfers. In theory, the support can last forever – hence the name.