By Jeff Kapembwa

Plans by Brazil to protect its tropical forests, vulnerable to financial exploitation and climate driven headwinds, received a fillip in Belem after interest groups pledged to help mobilize over US$6 billion to protect the country’s ecosystem.

The just ended TFFF conference, hosted in the Amazon-City-Belem from 6-7 November marked a turnaround for countries affected by indiscriminate cutting of trees including Brazil.

The conference, attracted over 500 delegates, globally, including the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, dubbed: “”preserving global forests”, and themed with a goal of creating a fund to reward countries for not chopping down trees, saw 53 countries, including 19 potential sovereign investors offering to join in the fundraiser and safeguard the forests, and the ecosystem, generally.

Arguably, the novel global funding mechanism, if secured, is designed to finance the permanent conservation of tropical and subtropical broadleaf moist rainforests by directly compensating countries and forest stewards for their efforts to maintain or increase their forest cover.

Experts close to the TFFF project commend the launch of the forest fundraiser initiative. The Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF), arguably is where conservation meets capital creation.

It is a once-in-a-generation facility that secures the future of tropical forests and guarantees returns for investors.

Norway, a key player, committed US$3 billion over the next 10-years subject to specific conditions, Brazil and Indonesia reconfirmed their US$ 1 billion commitments, Portugal committed US$1 million, France indicated that, under specific conditions, they would consider committing up to 500 million Euros until 2030.

The Netherlands committed USD 5 million for the secretariat, and Germany fully endorsed the TFFF, and stated that their financial commitment will be discussed tomorrow between President Lula and Chancellor Merz.

In total, 34 tropical forest countries endorsed the TFFF Declaration, covering over 90% of the tropical forests in developing countries, including Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and China, a statement issued at the end of the forest conferment, attended by that country’s leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

It was a significant milestone for the TFFF and marks the beginning of a new era of global collaboration between public and private investment, driving permanent conservation strategies and strengthening partnerships worldwide to safeguard the most critical tropical ecosystems.

The TFFF is a historic paradigm shift in global efforts to protect and restore tropical forests, as the facility will address a market failure and recognize the value of, and pay for, the ecosystem services provided by tropical forests to the world.

The TFFF creates an unprecedented global financial incentive to protect standing tropical forests, rather than destroying them.

Brazil looks set to institute a protection campaign against indiscriminate destruction of trees and the ecosystem with the Government warning saboteurs against their uncouth actions, arguing:

“The launch of the TFFF at COP30 marks a turning point in the history of tropical forest conservation. For the first time, we have a global mechanism that recognizes the value of forest ecosystem services and offers permanent incentives for their preservation.” Marina Silva, Brazil’s Minister of the Environment and Climate Change said:

“It is a collective achievement that places Brazil at the heart of building lasting climate solutions.”

Brazil’s Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, echoed: “This is a historic day for our whole world. Just two years after we first conceived of this idea, dozens of countries have come together to back the TFFF.

Brazil’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira, added “the TFFF reflects Brazil’s diplomatic vision, grounded in the conviction that tropical countries know best how to conserve their forests.

It empowers them by providing a stable and large-scale source of resources to sustain long-term environmental policies.

Among other features that stem from this origin are the allocation of at least 20% of its resources to Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and a governance system in which forest and sponsor countries participate on equal footing.

At the same time, the TFFF brings to life an idea long advocated by developed countries: engaging the private sector at scale. Its hybrid financial architecture combines sovereign and private capital at a 1-to-4 ratio

In sum, the TFFF demonstrates that multilateralism can reinvent itself, innovate, and deliver concrete results in the face of today’s global challenges.”

Brazil’s Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Sonia Guajajara, added: “The TFFF boldly and justly acknowledges the essential role of Indigenous Peoples and traditional communities in forest protection.

Ensuring that at least 20% of resources go directly to these guardians is a historic achievement and a decisive step toward equity and the recognition of ancestral knowledge.”

Norway’s Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, said: “It is vital to stop deforestation to reduce the impacts of climate change and limit biodiversity loss.

There is no time to lose if we are to save the world’s tropical forests. The new Tropical Forest Forever Facility can provide stable, long-term funding to relevant countries. It is important for Norway to support this initiative”.

The TFFF launch in Belém highlights the urgent need for collective action to address climate change, protect biodiversity, and promote sustainable development in tropical forest countries, with a recognition of the critical stewardship of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities.

The World Bank has already been confirmed as trustee and interim host of the TFFF. Next steps include the establishment of the Tropical Forest Investment Fund (TFFF) in a national jurisdiction, paving the way for the beginning of the operations. Belém marks the beginning of the capitalization of the TFFF.

The dialogue with potential investors, both public and private, will continue towards the medium-term goal of achieving a $125 billion Fund, combining $25 billion in sponsor capital from sovereign sources and $100 billion from institutional investors.

With UNEP estimating that forest protection and restoration will require mobilizing over US$ 67 billion annually, the TFFF will complement existing instruments for forest finance and fill a critical gap in the environmental finance landscape by rewarding forest cover maintenance and recovery.

Key innovative elements of the TFFF:

• TFFF has the potential to support the protection of over 1 billion hectares of tropical forests in over 70 developing countries.

• Payments to countries will be based on satellite remote sensing data that tracks forest canopy cover annually in a low-cost and transparent manner.

• The TFFF design was led by Brazil in partnership with DRC, Ghana, Malaysia, Indonesia, Colombia, the UK, Germany, Norway, France, the UAE, and counted with the valuable contributions of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

• The TFFF will be built by finance from traditional as well as non-traditional sovereign sponsor governments, philanthropy, family offices, and private sector investors.

• The TFFF has a mandatory allocation of at least 20% of payments to IPLCs – reinforcing a transformative shift in access for IPLCs.

• The TFFF asset allocation will exclude investments that have a significant environmental impact, such as those causing deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. The TFFF will not invest in activities related to coal, peat, oil, or gas.

Asset allocation must support, or at the very least not significantly harm, the overarching objectives of the TFFF.

The TFFF has a potential to increase manyfold the budgets of the Environment Ministries in Tropical Forest Countries.