Brazil is attempting to create an entirely new market for climate solutions, one that taps into the deep pockets of commercial investors. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s “Tropical Forests Forever Facility” is not just an aid fund; it’s a financial instrument designed to make saving the Amazon profitable.
Unveiled at the Belem summit, the plan aims to pay 74 developing countries to preserve their forests. The revolutionary part is the financing: it will be funded by interest-bearing debt, with loans sought from both wealthy nations and private-sector investors.
This model fundamentally reframes conservation as an investment, not a charity. The “return” for investors is a stable climate, but the mechanism provides a financial structure that commercial markets can engage with. The goal is to make it more lucrative to fund preservation than to log, mine, or ranch.
The $5.5 billion in pledges already announced, including $3 billion from Norway, serves as the critical seed funding to prove the concept. This “blended finance” model is seen as the only way to mobilize the trillions needed for the climate transition.
This new market is also being designed with equity in mind. A 20 percent portion of the fund is legally reserved for Indigenous peoples, ensuring the original stewards of the land are partners in this new climate economy.