In the Amazon, an area of rainforest roughly the size of a football pitch is lost every six seconds. Credit: Victor Moriyama for The New York Times
Nations are falling critically short in their financial commitment to maintain the health of the world’s forests, which cover nearly a third of our planet. A new United Nations report emphasizes that to achieve crucial international objectives concerning climate, biodiversity, and land restoration, global annual spending on forests must escalate dramatically, tripling to an estimated $300 billion by 2030.
Gabriel Labbate, who spearheads the climate mitigation unit at the U.N. Environmental Program and is a lead author of the analysis, underscored the inherent value of forests, calling them the “quintessential definition of a public good” due to the myriad benefits they provide to all.
These vital ecosystems are fundamental to life on Earth, providing habitats for over 80 percent of terrestrial animals, plants, and insects. Beyond their role in biodiversity, healthy forests play a crucial part in regulating global weather patterns and stabilizing the climate. Trees and other vegetation naturally absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide as they grow, effectively counteracting some of the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to the dangerous heating of our planet.
However, the report paints a grim picture: approximately 25 million acres of forest are lost annually, primarily due to human industrial activities and increasingly severe wildfires. The frequency and intensity of these fires are escalating in a warming world. In 2023 and 2024 alone, wildfires ravaged an astonishing 78 million acres globally—an area roughly three times the size of Iceland. This widespread destruction has severely hampered forests’ capacity to act as carbon sinks; during these years, they absorbed only a quarter of the carbon they managed to capture a century ago.
A glimmer of hope emerged in 2021 when governments from over 140 countries pledged at a U.N. climate conference in Glasgow to halt or reverse deforestation by 2030. Despite this ambitious declaration, global expenditure on forest protection in 2023 amounted to merely $84 billion, a figure the new report deems insufficient.
The U.N. analysis meticulously compiled data from a broad spectrum of funding sources, encompassing both governmental and private institutions, dedicated to safeguarding all types of forests, from the lush tropical rainforests to the expansive boreal forests of the Arctic.
Funding for forest health can take various forms, including government initiatives, aid programs, or conservation group efforts to establish protected wilderness areas and support extensive tree-planting endeavors.
A striking finding of the report is the minimal contribution from private institutions such as banks, venture capital firms, and corporations. These entities contribute less than $1 for every $10 allocated to forest protection and restoration, leaving the vast majority of funding dependent on taxpayer money, as noted by Mr. Labbate.
The bulk of financing for forest conservation and restoration originates from wealthier nations, with China and the United States together accounting for nearly half of all global funding. Conversely, tropical countries, often less affluent but home to some of the world’s most endangered forests, allocate the least resources. Many are burdened by debt, which impedes their ability to invest in conservation efforts. Frances Seymour, a senior policy adviser with the Woodwell Climate Research Center, a nonprofit, highlighted that farmers striving for a livelihood or politicians aiming to stimulate economic growth may inadvertently back industries that promote deforestation.
“It is in everybody’s interest to protect the forest,” Ms. Seymour asserted, “But nobody gets paid for protecting a forest.”
The report also points to a significant deficit in international aid directed towards tropical nations. On average, these countries spend 36 times more than they receive from international bodies like the World Bank and other global programs dedicated to forest preservation. This disparity often arises because governments tend to prioritize conservation efforts within their own national borders.
Alarmingly, the private sector’s investments in companies deemed likely to exacerbate deforestation total nearly $9 trillion annually. This figure is more than a thousand times the private money currently channeled into protecting forests.
For example, agriculture received an estimated $400 billion in subsidies in 2023, yet it is a primary driver of deforestation. In the Amazon rainforest, an area equivalent to a football field is destroyed every six seconds to expand cattle ranches and soy farms.
Carbon markets have emerged as a potential financing mechanism for conservation, allowing businesses to offset greenhouse gas emissions by investing in projects that protect or restore natural areas. However, these unregulated systems currently account for less than 2 percent of total forest spending.
Toward the end of September, a coalition of 34 governments unveiled a comprehensive plan for financing forest conservation. This roadmap aims to guide discussions at the upcoming U.N. climate conference, COP30, in Brazil next month, and includes specific recommendations for enhancing carbon credits. In the same week, Brazil announced a $1 billion investment into the Tropical Forests Forever Facility, a fund designed to compensate countries for preserving tropical forests, with 20 percent of its resources earmarked for Indigenous groups.
The U.N. report concludes by highlighting the remarkable effectiveness of Indigenous and local groups in safeguarding the world’s forests, managing over a third of them. Despite their crucial role, these communities have received only 13 percent of the global funding dedicated to forest conservation.