The Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) is a Global South driven initiative to finance the conservation of tropical and subtropical moist forests. Proposed in Dubai at COP28, the Facility is expected to launch at COP30 in Brazil. Initial versions of the TFFF concept have been shared publicly, with the latest version published in August 2024.
The TFFF can become a much needed step towards the protection of our tropical forests around the world. The initiative moves away from false solutions, but to really change the game for forest protection and succeed where so many have failed, the TFFF cannot stand alone. COP30 must also deliver a concrete Forest Action Plan to halt deforestation and forest degradation by 2030 and turn scattered negotiations and initiatives into coordinated global action. The coming weeks are critical to improve the TFFF and to build momentum for an ambitious COP decision on forests.
Progress and Gaps in the TFFF
The most recent TFFF Concept Note (3.0) shows some encouraging changes. The most notable is the mandatory minimum of 20% of funds directed to Indigenous Peoples and Local communities (IPs&LCs), now backed by clearer guarantees to ensure the money reaches them. Most finance flows will still pass through state systems, but there will be an option for funds to move directly from the global facility to national IP&LC agencies, giving the communities a potential path to receive resources without relying solely on government channels.
Governance has also improved: a new Advisory Council for IPs&LCs and a Technical and Scientific Panel will provide input to the Facility's Board, and tropical forest countries must establish national grievance mechanisms validated by a third party. These additions are positive, but they remain advisory-IPs&LCs and civil society still lack permanent seats in decision-making.
There are also forward steps on transparency, through annual Forest Payment Allocation Plans, on stronger Public Financial Management mechanisms, and on a commitment that TFFF funds should not simply replace existing budgets, to help ensure the funding is invested properly. These safeguards are key to preventing money from being directed to destructive industries or exposed to corruption.
Looking ahead to the launch in November, there are four essential areas where further improvement would make the TFFF more credible, lower risk, and higher integrity:
- Investment exclusions: a start has been made with a negative list of industries, but it's still not final and needs additions. To work, the fund must fully exclude harmful sectors such as industrial logging, big agribusiness, biofuels, fossil fuels, mining, and arms. Anything less means forest finance could be complicit in destruction and human rights violations.
- Funds: the mechanism needs to change the prioritisation of payments to results-based payments to Tropical Forest Countries for forest protection instead of to sponsors and investors capital. It also needs stronger requirements on sponsor countries to ensure committed funds will be additional to existing climate and biodiversity finance commitments.
- Forest cover eligibility: with the threshold set at 20-30% canopy cover, high integrity forests risk being degraded or logged but still qualify for payments. This risks rewarding low-quality forest whereas if tiered payments were adopted, it could reward and incentivise protection of high integrity forests.
- Degradation monitoring: right now, only fire scar areas are counted as degradation. Other key drivers of degradation such as logging and fragmentation need to be monitored and reported on. The TFFF must avoid rewarding degradation and instead channel finance to protect primary forests.
Why a Forest Action Plan is Needed from COP30
The urgency of the climate crisis and protecting and restoring high integrity forests means COP30 cannot only be about the TFFF. To keep 1.5°C within sight, countries have to deliver for forests and people, and now is the time to drive momentum and political will from the vibrant Amazon to change that. A Forest Action Plan under the UNFCCC is essential to fill the governance, accountability and finance gaps. Aiming to support and enhance implementation, such a mandate would help align climate and biodiversity processes, give guidance to Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), and ensure that drivers of deforestation such as commodity trade and unsustainable agriculture are better addressed.
Looking Ahead to Belém
TFFF Concept Note 3.0 is expected to be updated again before COP30. This means there is still time for TFFF and supporting governments to strengthen the final design, especially on forest cover, degradation monitoring, and investment criteria. But the bigger picture remains: forests across the world, including in the Amazon, Congo Basin, and Southeast Asia are all under accelerating threat, from fires to industrial expansion. The TFFF can be part of the solution if it becomes a high-integrity mechanism with strong civil society participation.
As we approach dangerous tipping points, COP30 must shift us from commitments to implementation, from voluntary initiatives to coordinated global action on forest.
