WWF welcomes TFFF Concept Note 3.0; urges investors to support the Facility

WWF welcomes the evolution and improvements in the Concept Note 3.0 of the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF), which reflects many of the recommendations made by stakeholders during the consultation process. We strongly call on supporter countries and private and philanthropic investors to mobilize capital to ensure a successful launch at Climate COP30. 

The TFFF, a global effort led by the government of Brazil, aims to provide a long-term source of finance to countries that keep their tropical forests standing. It comes at a time when deforestation continues at an alarming rate – in 2024 alone, the tropics lost 6.7 million hectares of primary rainforest. 

“Forests are the lifeline of our economies and fundamental to human health and wellbeing. The TFFF offers the most promising pathway this year for delivering a bold breakthrough in nature and climate finance,” says Kirsten Schuijt, Director General, WWF International. “We urge countries and financial institutions to mobilize capital at scale and help turn the TFFF into a true success for people and the planet.”

In particular, WWF welcomes the inclusion of national and, most importantly, international pathways for Indigenous Peoples and local communities to access and direct, at a minimum, 20% of payments to tropical forest countries. The requirements to establish Indigenous Peoples and local communities national steering committees to make allocation decisions, to set up national trust funds or use existing territorial funds where they exist, and to ensure that funds actually flow to the ground as an eligibility criterion for future payments are all critical innovations that place the TFFF at the forefront of emerging international models for Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ funding.   

We further commend the establishment of an Indigenous Peoples and local communities advisory council as part of the governance structure of the TFFF, as well as the further elaboration of the Grievance and Redress Mechanism requirements.   

We are pleased with the updated investment exclusions list, which now commits the TFFF to refrain from investments in activities related to coal, peat, oil and gas and those that cause deforestation. This is an important step in ensuring that the Tropical Forest Investment Fund (TFIF) is invested in securities whose issuers support the overarching objectives of the TFFF. We also welcome the TFIF’s intention, to the extent possible, to invest in labelled green or sustainable bonds to further encourage the growth of this market and positively contribute to transitioning the global economy to net zero. As the investment portfolio is further elaborated, we recommend that the TFIF’s investment guidelines align with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi’s) Financial Institutions Net Zero standard and that the TFFF adhere to the Net Zero Asset Owner’s Alliance position to enable their members’ investments in the Facility’s bonds.

On the question of how to measure forest degradation, we support the establishment of a Technical and Scientific Advisory Panel to further refine monitoring and reporting systems, and we strongly advise the TFFF Board to review these issues no later than three years from the launch, not from the start of the first TFFF payment, as suggested in the concept note. This was a major area of feedback in the consultation phase and the Technical and Scientific Advisory Panel must begin its work immediately.   

The TFFF is a novel solution to keep tropical forests standing and WWF looks forward to helping fully capitalize and operationalize the framework.