Jakarta – The leaders of BRICs have expressed support for the formation of the Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF), a mechanism proposed by Brazil aimed at providing tropical forest countries with large-scale, predictable, performance-based payments to maintain and expand forest cover.
They made a declaration at the 17th BRICS Summit, held between July 6 and 7 in Rio de Janeiro, TFFF said in a press statement issued on Tuesday, July 8.
The TFFF, launched at COP28 in the United Arab Emirates, is expected to be delivered at COP30, the UN Climate Conference to be held in Belém (Pará state) in November under the Brazilian presidency.
“We welcome the plans to launch the Tropical Forest Forever Facility in Belém, at COP30, and recognise it as an innovative mechanism designed to mobilise long-term, results-based financing for tropical forest conservation. We encouraged potential donor countries to announce ambitious contributions to ensure the Facility’s capitalisation and timely operationalisation”, states the Rio de Janeiro Declaration, signed by the heads of state and government on Sunday.
The BRICS Leaders’ Framework Declaration on Climate Finance, released this Monday, further noted that the TFFF “has the potential to be a promising blended finance instrument to generate a predictable and long-term funding stream to finance the conservation of standing forests”.
An innovation of the Brazilian presidency, the document calls on developed countries to fulfil the commitments made under the Paris Agreement and to meet the target of providing USD 300 billion per year in climate finance to developing countries by 2035.
“The Global South has envisioned and is building an instrument that will use public funds to leverage private capital at a ratio of 1 to 4, with the goal of protecting tropical forests – a decisive contribution to the planet’s climate regulation,” said Environment and Climate Change Minister Marina Silva, who attended the summit alongside President Lula.
“BRICS support is essential for the TFFF to become operational by COP30 and to integrate efforts to mobilise USD 1.3 trillion in annual climate finance by 2035, as agreed at COP29 in Baku,” he said.
President Lula also stated that the TFFF was the focus of the opening of the third plenary session of the summit, which centred on Environment, COP30, and Global Health.
“The BRICS Framework Declaration on Climate Finance, which we adopted today, lays out essential sources and alternative models for climate financing. The Tropical Forests Forever Facility, which we will launch at COP30, will remunerate the ecosystem services provided to the planet,” he said.
The TFFF has been consolidating itself as a new model for global climate finance. During London Climate Action Week, held from June 21 to 29, the initiative received support from both potential beneficiaries and sponsor nations, as well as from the private sector and multilateral organisations.
TFFF financing model
The TFFF’s financing model combines public investment with private capital mobilisation, aiming to raise around USD 4 billion annually to be distributed among tropical forest countries.
Countries will receive payments proportional to the area of conserved tropical and subtropical moist forests, after satellite image verification confirms deforestation levels are below an agreed-upon threshold. Deductions will be made for each hectare deforested or degraded, TFFF said.
This amount represents three to four times the discretionary budgets of the Environment Ministries in major forested countries, and dozens or even hundreds of times more than current payments from the voluntary carbon market. In other words, the TFFF could have a transformational impact on national forest conservation policies.
The TFFF operates as a revenue-generating investment fund, rather than a donation-based mechanism. It pays for results, rather than financing individual projects. It rewards standing forests, instead of compensating for avoided deforestation.
It also maintains a close dialogue with Indigenous Peoples and traditional communities, who play a direct role in forest protection. The mechanism proposes allocating at least 20% of each country’s payments to these populations. (Roffie Kurniawan)
Banner photo: An agroforestry system in the Amazon. Alexandre Laprise/shutterstock
