Brazil confident new rainforest fund will reach $10bn donor milestone

NEW YORK, 1 OCTOBER 2026 —

Brazil’s environment minister João Paulo Capobianco said on the sidelines of Climate Week in New York that the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) – a new rainforest fund launched by Brazil at COP30 in the Amazon last November – is on track to hit a $10 billion donor milestone this year. He added that the country’s upcoming elections will not jeopardise the fund’s progress.

Backers claim that for every dollar of public funding they can secure four dollars from the private sector, but critics argue that the $10 billion goal barely covers the fund’s operating costs and would not allow any significant payments to forest‑protecting nations.

Capobianco told Climate Home News that in less than a year since its official launch, the TFFF has already secured $7.3 billion from governments. “How many other initiatives can say that?” he asked. “Of course, if you have $7 billion, it’s easier for more countries to consider their own contribution. And not just countries – non‑governmental organisations also.

We are expecting even more support.” He said Brazil is still in talks with potential new contributors, including China, Korea and Japan, and hopes to see more pledges announced at the upcoming biodiversity and climate COPs in October and November. The Netherlands is expected to up its first small contribution and Canada may also come in, according to other sources close to the TFFF.

Because the fund was not created as part of the UN climate talks and is hosted by the World Bank, developing countries can contribute without taking on wider donor responsibilities for climate finance. Brazil and Indonesia – both large emerging rainforest nations – have each pledged $1 billion to the TFFF. Earlier in September, the UK became the latest country to pledge funding, promising a loan of £400 million (about $540 million).

Capobianco welcomed the contribution and noted that Britain has also said it will keep “under review” the possibility of putting in more.

The largest donor to date is Norway, which announced a $3 billion pledge last year at COP30 in Belém. That pledge came with conditions, among them that the fund must reach $10 billion in sponsor capital by 2026, and that Norway’s contribution cannot make up more than 20 percent of that total. Over the longer term, this means the fund must raise $15 billion from governments to unlock Norway’s full investment.

Speaking at a forest finance event in New York, Norway’s environment minister Sigrun Aasland said the country’s pledge was made “not only out of solidarity but because of shared interests”, adding that protecting rainforests is critical for climate and biodiversity goals as well as for national security. “Tropical deforestation matters to people in the Amazon and in the Congo.

But let’s not forget that it also matters to global food production and to the cost of living in Oslo or in London,” she said.

At the same event, Guyana’s minister of natural resources Vickram Bharrat said the TFFF is “one in a menu of options” to finance forest protection in developing countries. He added that to boost its capital “maybe we should put some amount of pressure on oil companies to contribute to the fund”.

Brazil, which has been pivotal to getting the fund off the ground, is now heading into a national election that could see the country swing back to an anti‑climate stance if right‑wing candidate Flávio Bolsonaro beats current left‑wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Capobianco, however, said the election result does not pose a risk to the TFFF. “It’s a global initiative, not a Brazilian initiative.

We proposed the first idea, but nowadays it’s a global initiative,” he said. “We believe the investor countries and the tropical countries together have the possibility to continue this process.”

In Brazil, the first round of voting is scheduled for Sunday, October 4. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of valid votes, a run‑off ballot will take place on October 25.

In July, the TFFF board adopted a charter, which outlines the instrument’s objectives and values, including that 20 percent of the payments made to tropical countries will go directly to Indigenous people and local communities. The charter also says the TFFF board may comprise up to 12 member countries during the initial phase. Currently, seven seats are filled by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Germany, Brazil, France, the Netherlands, Norway and Indonesia.

The board has also formally incorporated the Tropical Forest Investment Fund (TFIF) – the TFFF’s investment arm that will trade bonds in financial markets – hosted in Luxembourg. The TFIF will be responsible for deploying the capital raised by the TFFF into bond markets, generating returns that will be used to pay tropical countries for forest conservation.

The fund’s structure is designed to attract private sector investment by offering a predictable, long‑term return linked to forest protection outcomes.

Experts say that because setting up its financial architecture, raising the starting capital and making the first investments will take time, the TFFF is unlikely to generate any payments for developing countries before 2028. The fund’s early focus is on building a robust financial framework and securing sufficient seed capital to launch its investment activities.

Once the TFIF begins trading bonds, the returns will be used to pay tropical countries that meet conservation targets, thereby creating a sustainable financing mechanism that does not rely on annual grant disbursements.

The TFFF’s approach is distinct from other forest finance mechanisms in that it seeks to mobilise private capital through bond markets, rather than relying solely on public grants. By linking payments to the performance of bond investments, the fund aims to create a self‑sustaining source of finance that can scale up as more investors join.

The fund’s charter also emphasises the importance of Indigenous and local community participation, ensuring that a portion of the payments goes directly to those who live in and depend on the forests.

The fund’s launch at COP30 in the Amazon was a significant moment for Brazil, signalling the country’s commitment to global forest conservation and to innovative financing solutions. Since then, the TFFF has attracted a mix of government pledges and private sector interest, positioning it as a potential model for future forest finance initiatives.

The next steps for the fund include finalising its financial architecture, securing the remaining seed capital, and beginning its first round of bond investments. If successful, the TFFF could provide a new, scalable source of finance for tropical forest protection, with implications for climate mitigation, biodiversity conservation and the livelihoods of millions of people across the globe.

Related: World Bank