Lula: We Hope to Count on Engagement in the TFFF from the BRICS Bank and Other Regional Banks

When the destruction of forests reaches irreversible points, [the effects] will be felt all over the world. ‘Forests are worth more standing than cut down,’ said the President during a lunch offered to the leaders of countries with tropical forests and those committed to investing in the TFFF. The meeting takes place during the Belém Climate Summit. The lunch is private, but the President’s speech was broadcast to the press. Lula recalled that Brazil was the first nation to announce funding for the TFFF. ‘At the event we organized in September in New York, Brazil announced that it will be the first to invest $1 billion in this fund. Soon, we also hope to count on the engagement of the BRICS New Development Bank, the African Bank, and other regional banks,’ he said. The Lula administration is seeking public and private resources to make the TFFF viable, proposing a new climate financing model to preserve tropical forests. The goal is for the fund to have $125 billion under management over time, with $25 billion raised through public financing and the rest from private sources. Lula emphasized that, unlike other financial mechanisms, the TFFF is not donation-based. The funds raised will be reinvested in actions and securities within a diversified portfolio for investor compensation. Part of the profit will be passed on to countries with tropical forests for conservation investments. During his speech, he argued that forests should be integrated into countries’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP). ‘The ecosystem services they provide to humanity need to be compensated, just like the people who protect the forests.’ In an effort to mobilize resources for the TFFF, which is an unprecedented initiative started during COP28, Lula said that international green and climate funds are not up to the challenges of climate change. ‘It was with this sense of urgency that, since COP28, we have brought together a group of tropical forest countries and investor countries to design this mechanism. We count on the support of international organizations and civil society,’ he emphasized. He argued that the TFFF innovates in relation to existing funding mechanisms by proposing a new governance model for the fund. ‘Its decision-making bodies will correct old asymmetries and will have the presence, on an equal footing, of investor countries and tropical forest countries.’ Additionally, satellite monitoring will be carried out every year to identify whether countries are meeting the target of maintaining deforestation below 0.5%. ‘Reforestation will be taken into account over time,’ Lula promised.