Ceres welcomes the announcement of the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) – a historic global public-private financing mechanism to safeguard the most critical tropical ecosystems – which was officially launched during the COP30 Leader’s Summit. The TFFF Launch Declaration received endorsements from 53 countries, and $5.5 billion in investment commitments have been made to the fund.
“The launch of the Tropical Forest Forever Facility is an encouraging sign that global financial flows are beginning to shift toward conserving essential natural ecosystems that businesses depend on,” said Meryl Richards, program director, food and forests at Ceres. “Safeguarding nature is crucial to ensuring economic resilience, society’s health and well-being, and climate stability.”
The TFFF aims to protect over 1 billion hectares of tropical forests by paying the nations to keep them standing. So far, 34 tropical forest countries have endorsed the fund, which mandates allocation of at least 20% of payments to Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Governments, philanthropies, companies and institutional investors are expected to invest in the TFFF, which uses a blended finance model to generate returns for investors.
“Despite growing awareness of the material financial risks of escalating nature and biodiversity loss, much more urgent government and private sector action is needed to protect forests,” said Allan Pearce, director of engagement strategies, food and forests at Ceres. “Investors have been working to mitigate corporate deforestation risk for many years, and this new facility will create an enabling environment that helps companies close supply chain implementation gaps.”
Later this month, Ceres will release a new report analyzing corporate progress on deforestation and offering effective pathways to advance business action across the most at-risk sectors.