Tropical forest loss almost doubled between 2023 and 2024, fueled largely by wildfires, according to a report released today by the World Resources Institute. The emissions from the forest fires were four times greater than emissions caused by aviation in 2023.
The report comes just six months before tens of thousands of people are set to fly to the Brazilian Amazon for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change for the 30th U.N. climate summit, or COP30. Brazil, which has the second-largest forest cover in the world after Russia, has indicated plans to make forest conservation a central theme of the negotiations.
At the core of Brazil’s COP30 forest plan is operationalizing the Tropical Forest Forever Facility, or TFFF, which is a proposed international fund designed to financially reward countries for preserving their tropical forests. It was first proposed in 2023 at COP28. The government is now looking for countries to provide the initial funding so that the TFFF can eventually become a $125 billion investment fund.