The TFFF launch declaration received support from over 53 countries, including 19 potential investors
Over $5.5 billion was pledged at the launch of the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF), meant to end deforestation. Norway pledged $3 billion, followed by Brazil and Indonesia pledging $1 billion at the COP30 leaders’ summit.
France indicated that under specific conditions, they would consider committing up to $500 million until 2030. The Netherlands and Portugal have also pledged $5 million and $1 million, respectively, to the fund. China and the UAE expressed their support for the fund but did not provide any funds. In the coming years, more countries are expected to invest in the fund.
This initiative marked a historic moment, as it is the first time countries from the Global South will lead in climate conservation financial mechanisms.
$4 per Hectare to Keep the Forests Protected
TFFF is a new financing mechanism that would see forest countries paid every single year in perpetuity for keeping forests standing. A secretariat called the TFFF and an investment fund called the Tropical Forest Investment Fund (TFIF), which will invest sponsor money in emerging market bonds, avoiding fossil fuels, coal, peat, and any sectors linked to deforestation. It is a budget-neutral model of nature financing that rewards countries protecting forests yearly with $4 per hectare protected.
This fund came at a time when tropical forest ecosystems’ ability to sequester carbon has been declining since the 1990s due to degradation and deforestation, and scientists estimate that forests are responsible for holding back more than 1°C of warming due to their ability to sequester vast amounts of carbon and cool the planet by making water vapour and clouds.
Indigenous Leaders Hail Funding Guarantee
“The guarantee that at least 20% of TFFF payments will go directly to us, the Indigenous Peoples and local communities on the front lines of defending the biomes, is a historic victory that recognises our leadership in the fight against climate change,” said Juan Carlos Jintiach, Executive Secretary of the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities. “Funds must follow legitimate paths, ensuring that territorial organisations themselves are the ones to receive them, without getting trapped in bureaucracy or becoming instruments of political dispute.”
Lord Zach Goldsmith, former UK environment minister, applauded the launch, calling it a monumental step towards keeping the forests more alive than dead. Other personalities such as Brian O’Donnell, Director of the Campaign for Nature, called it a turning point for tropical forest finances and called the leadership of those nations who pledged to the fund inspiring.
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