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Forest finance featured prominently at COP30, as governments, Indigenous leaders, investors and international organizations focused on closing the global financing gap for forest protection and restoration.
On 17 November, Brazil convened a ministerial dialogue on unlocking finance to halt deforestation and protect tropical forests. Participants included senior representatives from Colombia, Guyana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Kingdom and Norway, alongside development banks, institutional investors, civil society and Indigenous organizations. Discussions centred on results-based finance, coordination between public and private capital, and the role of national policy frameworks in attracting long-term investment.
The scale of the challenge
Analysis shared at COP30 underlined the size of the forest finance gap. According to UN-REDD’s State of Finance for Forests report, global investment in forests totalled USD 84 billion in 2023. Annual needs are estimated at USD 300 billion to meet climate, biodiversity and land restoration targets. Tropical forest countries alone are expected to require around USD 67 billion per year by 2030.
Brazil presented the Tropical Forests Forever Fund (TFFF) as a mechanism to provide long-term, performance-based finance to countries that reduce deforestation. By the end of COP30, the initiative had received nearly USD 7 billion in pledges, including multi-billion-dollar commitments from Norway and other partners.
Another development was the launch of the JREDD+ Coalition, announced by Guyana’s Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat. The coalition aims to scale jurisdictional REDD+ by aligning forest countries, Indigenous organizations, investors, standard-setting bodies and civil society. It is projected to mobilize between USD 3 billion and USD 6 billion annually by 2030.
Forest Pavilion discussions
Further technical discussions took place at COP30’s Forest Pavilion, convened by the UN-REDD Programme. Policymakers, technical experts, Indigenous leaders and investors examined how finance commitments can be translated into delivery.
A three-part event on forest finance and trade reviewed public finance, carbon markets and sustainable value chains and included a presentation of the State of Finance for Forests and Forest Declaration Assessment. Speakers emphasized the need for diverse financial mechanisms and the role of REDD+ results-based payments as a tool linking finance to verified emission reductions. To date, 65 countries have reported REDD+ elements, 21 have submitted verified results, and more than 12 gigatons of emission reductions are eligible for payment.
A final session focused on Indigenous-led bioeconomies and private-sector finance. Indigenous representatives stressed that finance mechanisms must reflect Indigenous governance systems, land tenure and economic models, and enable Indigenous enterprises to lead forest-based initiatives.
Photo credit: COP30 Brazil
Tenure and regional commitments
COP30 also saw renewed political commitments on land tenure and regional forest protection. More than USD 1.8 billion was pledged through an expanded Forest and Land Tenure Pledge to support Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant peoples and local communities in securing land rights and protecting forests by 2030. The Intergovernmental Land Tenure Commitment aims to legally secure 160 million hectares of Indigenous, Afro-descendant and local community lands by the end of the decade.
In parallel, donor countries announced a USD 2.5 billion pledge dedicated to safeguarding the Congo Basin’s forests, one of the world’s most biodiverse and climate-critical regions. This commitment aims to support forest protection, governance and sustainable livelihoods in Central Africa.
Action agenda and next steps
Forest finance featured in COP30’s Action Agenda. More than 100 plans to accelerate solutions were advanced, with forests and REDD+ identified as one of the priority areas. This reflected strong engagement from governments, Indigenous organizations, civil society and investors on pathways to scale finance, strengthen institutions and deploy results-based approaches.
The UN-REDD Programme and the Forest and Climate Leaders Partnership (FCLP) led a consultation on a Plan to Accelerate Solutions on REDD+. The process focused on scaling results-based finance, strengthening national implementation systems and improving access to predictable funding.
Brazil also underscored the need for sustained political will beyond the conference, with the COP30 Presidency calling for a roadmap to halt and reverse deforestation, to be developed over the coming year and presented at COP31.
Following the conclusion of COP30, governments and partners are working together to leverage existing mechanisms, new coalitions and action plans to increase the scale, consistency and effectiveness of forest finance.
Originally published at un-redd.org