By Brendan O’Boyle and Lisandra Paraguassu
BRASÍLIA, Sept 3 (Reuters) – Britain will provide a £400 million ($541.04 million) loan to the Tropical Forests Forever Facility, a Brazil-led initiative designed to finance the protection of endangered forests.
Brazil launched the initiative last year at the COP30 U.N. climate summit with an ambition to raise $10 billion of public money in its first year, and has so far secured almost three-quarters of that target.
The TFFF was presented as an innovative model under which the fund is managed like an endowment and pays eligible countries annual stipends based on how much of their tropical forests remain standing.
Britain backed the concept during the summit but did not make an initial taxpayer-funded contribution, with then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government under pressure about how it would balance the books at home.
New Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who has focused even more tightly on easing domestic cost-of-living concerns since coming to power in July, has since said some of Britain’s international climate contributions should be made in the form of loans, not grants.
“The UK investment into TFFF as a loan, not a grant, ensures value for money for the British taxpayer,” Britain’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said in a statement.
In July, Burnham said money saved by switching climate project contributions to loans would help fund a cap on bus fares.
Mauricio Voivodic, executive director of WWF-Brazil, called the UK’s commitment “very significant,” adding that it “reinforces a necessary change in how the world recognizes and finances the conservation of tropical forests.”
Two sources told Reuters they expect the $10 billion goal to be met by year-end. If that happens, it could unlock further funding from the United States.
Overall, the TFFF aims to raise $125 billion, including $25 billion from governments and public institutions.
($1 = 0.7388 pounds)
(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu and Brendan O’Boyle; Additional reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Writing by Brendan O’Boyle and William James in London; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
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