As world leaders head to a second day of climate talks being hosted in Brazil, a major proposal to protect tropical forests worldwide is sure to a major topic of discussion. Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Thursday sought to mobilise funding to halt the ongoing destruction of tropical rainforests and advance the many unmet promises made at previous summits.
He’s proposing a fund called the Tropical Forests Forever Facility that would pay 74 developing countries to keep their trees standing, using loans from wealthier nations and commercial investors. Financed by interest-bearing debt instead of donations, it aims to make it more lucrative for governments to keep their trees rather than cut them down. The location where the proposal was announced and the talks are being held, Belem, is significant because the city is part of the
Amazon rainforest, which is crucial in helping to regulate the climate. Destroying rainforests makes money for cattle ranchers, miners and illegal loggers, but Brazil hopes to convince countries that preserving forests promises richer rewards for the entire world by absorbing huge amounts of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that heats the planet when it’s released into the atmosphere.
As senior Brazilian officials walked reporters through the fund’s inner workings, Norway pledged $3 billion — the biggest commitment of the day — raising hopes for Lula’s ambitions to become a reality. Germany expected to follow on Friday when Lula meets Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Brazilian officials announced a total of $5.5 billion in pledges.
