Countries at COP30 endorse new fund to pay nations for preserving forests

World leaders gathered at the COP30 Leaders' Summit in Belm, Brazil, to launch the Tropical Forests Forever Facility, a landmark global initiative aimed at channelling large-scale finance into the protection of tropical forests.

The Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF) is designed to reward countries for keeping their forests standing rather than waiting for them to be cut down or degraded.

According to the launch statement, it has been endorsed by 53 countries.

The host country, Brazil, described the move on Thursday as a turning point in global environmental finance and one of the most important deliverables of this year's UN climate conference.

It creates a system of regular, performance-based payments to tropical forest nations that successfully maintain their forest cover, verified through monitoring tools such as satellites.

The goal is to shift the financial incentives in favour of conservation and to recognise the immense ecosystem services provided by tropical forests, from carbon storage and rainfall regulation to biodiversity protection.

Led by Brazil, the facility represents a new model of climate finance that blends public, private, and sovereign capital.

The structure consists of a secretariat, also called the TFFF, and an investment fund known as the Tropical Forest Investment Fund (TFIF).

The TFIF will invest sponsor contributions in emerging market bonds and other sustainable assets that exclude fossil fuels and sectors linked to deforestation. Returns from these investments will be used to repay investors while generating funds to reward participating countries.

At least 20 per cent of all funds will directly reach Indigenous peoples and local communities, acknowledging their central role in forest protection and addressing the historical gap in conservation financing that rarely reaches them.

Of the 53 countries that have endorsed TFFF, 34 are tropical forest nations representing more than 90 per cent of the world's tropical forests in developing countries, including Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and China.

India, a tropical forest country, is yet to formally endorse the initiative.

Norway announced a commitment of around USD 3 billion over the next 10 years. Brazil and Indonesia reconfirmed their earlier pledges of USD 1 billion each, while Portugal committed USD 1 million.

France said it would consider contributing up to USD 576 million by 2030.

The Netherlands pledged USD 5 million to support the secretariat, and Germany fully endorsed the initiative.

Several other countries, including France, China, and the UAE, expressed political support but have yet to make financial commitments.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, opening the high-level event, called the launch "an unprecedented initiative" and said for the first time in history, countries of the Global South would take a leading role in a forest agenda.

He said the initiative's launch in the heart of the Amazon rainforest carried deep symbolism and added that in the coming years, the world would begin to see the tangible results of the fund.

Lula said the TFFF would be one of the main outcomes in the spirit of COP30 implementation.

The two-day Leaders' Summit will set the political direction for COP30, which marks a decade since the Paris Agreement.

COP30 is taking place -- between November 10 and 21 -- amid heightened geopolitical tensions, ongoing wars, and economic uncertainty triggered by US tariffs.

The United States' withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, along with several developed countries re-evaluating their climate commitments amid economic and energy security concerns, has created a challenging backdrop for this year's climate talks.