Speech by President Lula at the launch of the Tropical Forests Forever Fund (TFFF)

The Tropical Forests Forever Fund (TFFF), which we are launching today, is an unprecedented initiative.

For the first time in history, countries of the Global South will take the lead in a forest agenda.

Tropical forests play a vital role in tackling climate change.

They store carbon, regulate water cycles, and safeguard biodiversity.

Without them, there would be no clean water and no way to grow food.

If deforestation reaches an irreversible tipping point, its consequences will be felt worldwide.

Forests are worth more standing than cut down.

They should be recognized as part of our countries’ GDP.

The ecosystem services they provide to humankind must be properly compensated, as also must be the people who dedicate their lives to protecting them.

Current international green and climate funds fall far short of addressing the challenges posed by climate change.

Since COP28, we have worked with a sense of urgency to bring together a group of tropical forest nations and investor countries to design this new mechanism.

We have also relied on the support of international organizations and civil society.

The TFFF is not based on donations.

Its role will complement existing mechanisms that reward the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

A mixed-capital fund will be sustained by sovereign investments from both developed and developing nations.

Its portfolio will be diversified across equities and bonds.

The profits generated will be shared among tropical forest countries and investors.

These funds will go directly to national governments, enabling them to implement long-term, sovereign programs.

Up to one-fifth of the resources may be allocated to Indigenous peoples and local communities.

Caring for rubber tappers, extractivists, women, and Indigenous peoples means caring for the forests themselves.

The bioeconomy offers a path that reconciles conservation with sustainable use.

The TFFF also innovates in its governance.

Its decision-making bodies will correct longstanding asymmetries and include, on an equal footing, both investor nations and tropical forest countries.

Civil society and expert participation will strengthen the evaluation and continuous improvement of the mechanism.

Each year, satellite monitoring will determine whether countries are meeting the target of keeping deforestation below 0.5 percent.

Over time, reforestation efforts will also be taken into account.

The goal is for each country to receive up to four dollars per hectare of preserved land. It may seem modest, but we are talking about 1.1 billion hectares of tropical forests across 73 developing countries.

At the event we held in New York last September, Brazil announced that it would be the first to invest one billion dollars in this fund.

Guided by a new philosophy, the World Bank’s Board has approved hosting both the financial mechanism and the Interim Secretariat of the TFFF.

We also expect to count on the engagement of the New Development Bank of the BRICS, the African Development Bank, and other regional banks in due course.

The TFFF has already received support from countries in the Amazon, Congo, and Borneo–Mekong basins.

The Tropical Forests Forever Fund will be one of the key tangible outcomes in the spirit of implementation for COP30.

It is symbolic that we are celebrating its birth here in Belém, surrounded by sumaúma trees, açaí palms, andirobas, and jacarandás.

In just a few years, we will begin to reap the fruits of this fund. We will take pride in remembering that it was in the heart of the Amazon rainforest that we took this step together.

As the Brazilian environmentalist Chico Mendes once said: “At first, I thought I was fighting to save the rubber trees. Then, I thought I was fighting to save the Amazon rainforest. Now I realize I am fighting for humankind.”

Thank you very much.