Lula launches fund for tropical forest preservation in Belém. November 6, 2025

© BRUNO PERES/AGÊNCIA BRASIL

Lula launches fund for tropical forest preservation in Belém

The idea is to reach US$125 billion with the participation of countries and private capital

In Belém, Lula opens Climate Summit this Thursday

The event precedes the start of COP30 in the capital of Pará

SAYONARA MORENO - REPORTER FOR RÁDIO NACIONAL

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva officially launched the Tropical Forests Forever Fund (TFFF), during the Climate Summit in Belém (PA), on Thursday afternoon (6). During the lunch offered by the Brazilian government, the president invited other nations to support the initiative.

“Forests are worth more standing than felled. They should be part of our countries' GDP. Ecosystem services need to be remunerated, as do the people who protect the forests. International green funds are not up to the challenge,” said the president. According to Lula, the TFFF is an innovative financing tool to help countries conserve tropical forests, present in more than 70 nations, including Brazil.

“The TFFF is not based on donations; its role will be to complement mechanisms that pay for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. [It will be] sovereign investments from developed and developing countries that will leverage a mixed capital fund. The portfolio will be diversified in stocks and bonds,” Lula highlighted.

The first contributions will be made by national governments, with resources that should activate the fund to leverage capital from the private sector. The proposal, designed by the Brazilian government, aims to initially reach US$25 billion with the participation of countries and reach US$125 billion with private capital.

The resources generated from investments in projects with high rates of return will finance the maintenance of preserved forest environments per hectare.

“The profits will be shared between tropical forest countries and investors. These resources will go directly to national governments, which will be able to guarantee long-term sovereign programs,” the president emphasized.

The fund should also ensure that one-fifth of the resources are allocated to indigenous peoples and local communities.

Monitoring the maintenance of standing forests will be done through satellite monitoring capable of identifying compliance to keep deforestation below 0.5% in eligible countries.

According to the president, it will be possible to pay countries US$4 per hectare preserved.

“It seems modest, but we are talking about 1.1 billion hectares of tropical forests distributed across 73 developing countries,” said Lula.

The announcement comes after the Brazilian government contributed US$1 billion on September 23rd, during the first dialogue presenting the tool, promoted by Brazil and the United Nations Secretariat (UNFCCC), in Brasília.

At the launch of the TFFF, the president also noted that the World Bank Board will host the financial mechanism and the TFFF secretariat with a governance model considered innovative.

Lula recalled that several countries with tropical forests and financiers have already announced their support for the mechanism.

“It is symbolic that the celebration of its birth is taking place here in Belém, surrounded by kapok trees, açaí palms, andiroba trees, and jacaranda trees. In a few years, we will be able to see the fruit of this fund. We will be proud to remember that it was in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest that we took this step together.”

Symbolically, this effect will last until the end of COP30, which concludes on November 21st.

Earlier this week, Lula decreed the Guarantee of Law and Order (GLO), at the request of the governor of Pará, Helder Barbalho. The decree follows the same procedures as major international events held in the country, such as the G20 Summit and the BRICS meeting in Rio de Janeiro.

Article published in Agência Brasil on 06/11/2025