'It's a game changer' Officials seek to rally Cop30 behind global forest fund

As a battle-scarred veteran of the war against nature, Garo Batmanian has spent 45 years trying to defend the Amazon rainforest.

- Jonathan Watts

For most of that time, the resistance he leads has been outfunded and outgunned by those who profit from destruction. The most Batmanian felt he could achieve was to slow the advance of the chainsaws and tractors.

But the director-general of Brazil’s forest service feels there could be a chance at the Cop30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, next week, not just of an even fight, but perhaps a victory. There is one condition: world governments must rally behind an initiative led by the host nation: the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF).

“Before, I always felt we could keep the game close but we could never win,” he said. “But this is a game-changer.”

The TFFF is the biggest and boldest plan yet to staunch the loss of tropical forests that are a pillar of climate stability.

Its success depends on buy-in from governments and financial institutions that until now have directed their funds towards destruction. Championed by Brazil’s globally respected environment minister, Marina Silva, and drawn up with advice from the World Bank, London financial consultants and several governments, the TFFF aims to disrupt the financial logic for deforestation by raising $125bn (£95bn), investing it in bonds, and paying out the returns as a reward for countries and communities that conserve their standing forests.