The TFFF at six months: Govs share status update in D.C.
Belém to Davos to Washington: Six months on, the TFFF has interim boards, a trustee, and some leads on further investments
In this issue of Plans-for-the-Planet:
The TFFF gains its first institutional structure: an Interim Board co-chaired by Brazil and Norway.
The UK signals continued interest in potentially investing.
Luxembourg might become the TFIF’s host country
Researchers pitch improvements to the TFFF
World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington,13–18 April 202
At the ministerial event, “Establishing the Financial Arm of the Tropical Forest Forever Facility,” yesterday (April 16), ministers from Brazil, Norway, Germany, Luxembourg and senior World Bank leadership gathered in Washington to advance the facility.
Key announcements:
🇧🇷/🇳🇴 Brazil and Norway will co-chair both the TFFF Interim Board and the Tropical Forests Investment Facility (TFIF) Transition Interim Steering Committee.
🇧🇷 Brazil’s Finance Minister Dario Durigan and climate envoy Mauricio Carvalho Lyrio reaffirmed Brazil’s leadership. Lyrio noted that President Lula’s upcoming trips to Spain and Germany would likely include direct asks calling on Spanish Prime Minister Sánchez to invest in the TFFF for the first time, and urging Chancellor Merz to scale up Germany’s commitment to “German proportions”.
🇳🇴 Norway’s Minister of International Development Åsmund Grøver Aukrust confirmed the co-chairmanship and Norway’s continued commitment, with its conditional $3B pledge still on the table.
🇨🇬 DR Congo’s Environment Minister Arlette Bahati Tito made a pointed call: “DRC requests and urges that the TFFF and TFIF prioritise rapid disbursements.”
🇬🇧 UK Special Representative for Climate Rachel Kyte confirmed the UK is “exploring a pathway” for investment and is working to mobilise capital from UK-based financial institutions.
🇱🇺 Luxembourg’s Finance Minister Gilles Roth strongly hinted that Luxembourg will host the TFIF a decision expected to be formalised in the coming weeks.
🌿 The Nature Conservancy’s CEO Jennifer Morris praised the Minderoo Foundation’s $10M investment and teased a TNC commitment of its own, expected at London Climate Action Week in June.
Beyond Washington, the TFFF has been on the agenda across major forums.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, the TFFF had convened a high-level investor panel, framing the facility as a shift from donation-based conservation to a genuine investment model. Representatives from Barclays, Bank of America, and PIMCO all endorsed it as a credible, market-based mechanism.
In Frankfurt, on January 19th Germany’s development bank KfW convened sovereign stakeholders to discuss the transition committee structure.
In Berlin, members of the Bundestag held a cross-party discussion on the TFFF, with debate over transparency, equitable fund distribution to Indigenous communities, and environmental integrity.
Friends of the TFFF, a coalition of governments, NGOs, financial institutions, and Indigenous representatives, also convened in New York in January this year to chart next steps. The expectation, as of those discussions, is that both the TFFF and TFIF boards will be formally established by June 2026.
Fundraising: Conversations, but no Pledges
The TFFF’s financial model hinges on raising a $10B junior tranche from sovereign and philanthropic investors by the end of 2026 in order to realise Norway’s $3B loan commitment. No additional pledges have been announced since COP30. As of April 2026, confirmed pledges still stand at $6.7B.
Fundraising conversations were reported with the Netherlands, France, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia, China, the European Investment Bank, and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. London Climate Action Week in June is expected to be the next major mobilisation moment.
Pitches to Improve the TFFF
In a commentary paper published in Nature Ecology and Evolution on the 13th, Mendham et al. recommend:
Raising the IPLC payment share from 20% to 30–40% ensures that communities receive a fairer proportion of the benefits, conditional upon their ongoing forest stewardship.
Channel IPLC payments through trusted intermediaries (Indigenous organizations, municipalities, or conservation trust funds).
Make a portion of payments conditional on institutional innovations like natural capital accounting, tenure reform, and co-management frameworks
Develop biocultural condition indices co-produced with IPLCs that capture both quality and quantity of forest cover.
Expand the current fire degradation discount to cover other forms of forest degradation
Establish a formal review and revision process to keep the mechanism responsive to emerging threats.
Frame the $4/hectare payment explicitly as a catalytic incentive rather than a valuation of forests, to avoid it becoming the de facto benchmark for forest worth.
Independently, WWF’s Andrew Deutz has been arguing for the establishment of an expert panel for six to eight months to propose recommendations to improve the TFFF’s forest monitoring approach.
What to Watch
By the end of April, the Interim Board is expected to submit a draft Terms of Reference and a Secretariat composition proposal to the World Bank.
June’s London Climate Action Week may bring new investment announcements and an Interim Board meeting.
The UN Forum on Forests in May may include a dedicated session on TFFF country readiness.
TFFF News
In Germany, Lula will ask Merz for more money for the Forest Fund — ICL Noticias, 18 April 2026
Norway joins Brazil in leading innovative rainforest fund — Norwegian Government Press Release, 17 April 2026
Tropical Forest Forever Facility Demonstrates Rapid Progress at IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings — TFFF Press Release, 16 April 2026
TFFF first payments unlikely before 2028 — Climate Home News, 20 March 2026
André Corrêa do Lago, COP30 President: FAO technical cooperation strengthens the new Tropical Forests Forever Fund — FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, 19 March 2026
The TFFF faces a forest of challenges — Environmental Finance, 4 March 2026
TFFF showcases breakthrough forest finance at Davos — TFFF Press Release, 23 January 2026
The Tropical Forest Forever Facility and Its Role in International Forest Finance — Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, 1st January 2026
How the TFIF could multiply the TFFF’s forest impact — Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute, 25 November 2025
Luxembourg backs COP30 forest finance facility — Luxembourg Times, 3 December 2025
Thank you for reading Plans-for-the-Planet.
If there are TFFF updates we’ve missed, drop us a note at pakhi.das@plant-for-the-planet.org. We would be happy to include them in our next edition.