Belém, 7 November 2025 (dpa/MIA) - Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Thursday presented a new multibillion-dollar fund to protect tropical forests, as world leaders convened in the Amazonian city of Belém ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) next week.

Lula said that for the first time, countries in the Global South will take a leading role in a forest protection programme through the new Tropical Forests Forever Fund (TFFF).

The Brazilian government's model would ensure countries that preserve their tropical forests are rewarded financially.

The fund could distribute up to $4 billion annually, almost three times the current volume of international aid for forest preservation.

Countries that preserve valuable tropical forests are to receive a premium of $4 per hectare per year from the fund.

Conversely, they will have to pay a penalty of $140 for every hectare destroyed, with verification carried out by using satellite images. 

According to the plan, some 70 developing countries with tropical forests could benefit. Up to a fifth of the funds would also go to indigenous populations.

Rich countries would initially contribute $25 billion on a voluntary basis.

Potential donors include Germany, the United Arab Emirates, France, Norway and the United Kingdom. This initial fund would then be used to mobilize a further $100 billion from the private sector over the next few years.

In addition to Brazil, the founding members include Colombia, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Lula announced at the UN General Debate in New York that Brazil itself would contribute $1 billion.

Greenpeace: Fund must not invest in harmful industries

Greenpeace has praised the initiative as an important political signal. However, it said there was room for improvement.

For example, it must be ensured that the fund is not allowed to invest in industries that are harmful to nature and the climate in order to achieve high returns.

That would be counterproductive, said Greenpeace expert Jannes Stoppel. In addition, COP30 must also adopt a binding forest action plan to stop deforestation by 2030, the organization said.

Guterres: Missing 1.5 degree goal a 'moral failure'

Lula's speech came hours after UN Secretary General António Guterres called the world's failure to keep warming within the critical 1.5 degrees Celsius limit set under the 2015 Paris Agreement "a moral failure" and "deadly negligence."

Guterres said it is "inevitable" that the 1.5-degree threshold will be breached by the early 2030s due to humanity's continued reliance on fossil fuels.

Photo: EPA