Hosting a crucial climate summit in the Amazonian city of Belem, Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is leveraging his position to propose a new global framework for forest protection. His “Tropical Forests Forever Facility” would create a system to pay 74 developing countries to halt deforestation.
The plan is designed to counter the powerful economic incentives for destruction, such as mining and cattle ranching. By making it more lucrative for governments to keep their trees standing, Lula hopes to protect the world’s most critical carbon sinks.
The financing model is a key innovation, structured around interest-bearing debt from wealthy nations and commercial investors, not just donations. This approach has already yielded $5.5 billion in pledges, with a $3 billion commitment from Norway and more expected from Germany.
A significant 20 percent of the fund’s resources are earmarked for Indigenous peoples, acknowledging their historic role in preserving these lands. This focus on Indigenous-led conservation is a major theme of the Belem talks.
However, the ambitious proposal faces a fractured political landscape. The leaders of the US, China, and India—the world’s top polluters—were absent from the preliminary gathering. This comes as the UN chief warns of “deadly negligence” in the global fight against climate change.