Lula invites other countries to support the TFFF initiative — MercoPress

Lula invites other countries to support the TFFF initiative

“We will be proud to remember that it was in the heart of the Amazon rainforest that we took this step together”, insisted Lula.

During the launch of the Tropical Forever Fund (TFFF) at the Climate Summit held on Thursday afternoon in Belém, an Amazonian city in the state of Pará, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva invited other nations to support the initiative. “Forests are worth more standing than they are cut down. They must be included in our countries’ GDP. Ecosystem services must be remunerated, as well as the people who protect the forests. International green funds are not up to the challenge”, insisted Lula.

The TFFF, explained Lula, is an innovative financing tool to help countries conserve tropical forests, present in more than 70 nations, including Brazil. “The TFFF is not based on donations. Its function will be to complement the mechanisms that finance the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions”, he stated.

The first contributions will be made by national governments, which will lead the initiative with resources that activate the fund to mobilize private capital. The proposal, designed by the Brazilian government, initially seeks to raise US$25 billion with the participation of countries and US$125 billion with private capital. Resources generated by investments in high-profit projects will finance the maintenance of protected forest areas per hectare.

“Profits will be divided between countries with tropical forests and investors. These resources will go directly to national governments, which will be able to guarantee long-term sovereign programs,” said the president. The fund must also ensure that a fifth of resources go to indigenous peoples and local communities, he added. The maintenance of standing forests will be monitored by satellites capable of verifying compliance with the objective of keeping deforestation below 0.5% in eligible countries.

According to Lula, it will be possible to pay countries US$4 per hectare protected. “It seems modest, but we are talking about 1.1 billion hectares of tropical forests spread across 73 developing countries,” he said.

The announcement comes after the Brazilian government contributed US$1 billion on September 23, during the first dialogue to present the instrument promoted by Brazil and the UNFCCC Secretariat in Brasília.

At the launch of the TFFF, the President also mentioned that the World Bank Board of Directors would house the financial mechanism and the TFFF secretariat, with a governance model that is also considered innovative. Lula highlighted that several countries with tropical forests and financial entities have announced support for the mechanism. “We will be proud to remember that it was in the heart of the Amazon rainforest that we took this step together”, he declared.

Lula also announced on Thursday that the Brazilian government will expand the coverage of marine protected areas in the country, with special attention to the so-called Blue Amazon. The statement was made during the inauguration of the first thematic session of the Climate Summit, in Belém, entitled “Forests and Oceans”. The event brings together heads of state and government representatives in a program that precedes the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP30), which begins this Monday, 10. “Brazil will protect the Blue Amazon through marine planning and the conservation of mangroves and corals. We will expand the coverage of our marine protected areas from 26% to 30%, thus meeting the objective of the Global Framework for Biological Diversity. president.

The region known as the Blue Amazon includes the marine surface, the overlying waters, as well as the seabed and subsoil within the Atlantic extension that extends from the coast to the outer limit of the Brazilian continental shelf.

Likewise, Lula stated that the climate crisis has reached a point of no return, citing as an example the widespread mortality of warm-water coral reefs. He emphasized that warming oceans could alter rainfall patterns in the Amazon and warned about the risk of the savannah, which could have serious repercussions on the climate and agriculture around the world. He highlighted that only multilateralism can face the current scenario, stating that “no country can face the climate crisis alone” and that “it is time to join forces again and generate synergy” between environmental agreements.

The president recalled historic achievements, such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Montreal Protocol, and declared that Brazil will ratify the High Seas Treaty before the end of the year, which will come into force in 2026. Lula stated that in 2024, “tropical forests disappeared faster than ever” and that the world lost an area equivalent to Panama. He argued that only global cooperation can curb fires, deforestation and ocean pollution. The president reaffirmed the goal of achieving zero deforestation by 2030. “This is one of our government’s objectives…” “These are Brazil’s main commitments,” stated Lula. According to him, the country has already reduced deforestation in the Amazon by more than 50% and recorded the lowest rate in recent years. Brazil’s goal is to restore 40 million hectares of degraded pastures over the next ten years. Lula declared that no tropical forest can generate climate solutions if it does not also generate solutions for the people who inhabit it.

“This is the COP of truth, of a pact to protect the life of forests, oceans and humanity. It’s time to transform ambition into action and rediscover the balance between growth and sustainability”, added the president. (Source: Agência Brasil)