African Coalition Rejects $125bn Forest Fund at COP 30, Calls it “Profit Scheme in Disguise”

A major African civil society bloc has pushed back against a new global forest finance initiative unveiled at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 30), warning that the proposed fund threatens to turn Africa’s forests into financial assets controlled by global investors.

The Africa Make Big Polluters Pay (MBPP) Coalition on Monday rejected the newly launched $125 billion Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF), describing it as a “dangerous attempt to financialise nature under the guise of climate protection.” The fund, spearheaded by Brazil, promises annual payments to countries for keeping their forests intact.

But the MBPP—made up of more than 32 organisations, including Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), Gender CC Southern Africa, and the Global Forest Coalition—said the Facility offers little real support for climate-vulnerable nations and risks deepening inequalities.

In a statement issued at the summit, the coalition said the TFFF reduces forests to tradable assets, allowing powerful financial institutions to shape forest policy based on profit, not protection.

“The excitement surrounding the TFFF is misplaced,” the statement read. “Rather than safeguarding forests, it commodifies living ecosystems and undermines Indigenous and community-led stewardship.”

The group warned that the model could entrench financial dependence across Africa, home to some of the world’s most biodiverse and ecologically critical forests.

According to the coalition, the Facility’s proposed annual payment of about $4 per hectare of protected forest is grossly inadequate compared to the true value of Africa’s forest ecosystems and the cost of community-led protection efforts.

Countries such as Nigeria, Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and others are among those being courted to join the scheme. But MBPP argues they stand to receive only leftover funds after investor commitments have been met, since payments are tied to the Facility’s investment performance.

“This is not climate finance,” the coalition warned, “but a sophisticated financial vehicle designed to deliver predictable returns to private investors.”

To highlight the imbalance, the coalition noted that redirecting just 1% of global military spending—equivalent to $27 billion annually—would deliver six times the projected returns of the Facility without exposing countries to market volatility.

The coalition also criticised the decision to appoint the World Bank as trustee, calling it a backward step that centralises power and sidelines local voices.

-Advertisement-

“The World Bank must not be allowed to turn forest protection into another business model,” said Akinbode Oluwafemi, Executive Director of CAPPA.

Mokoena Ndivile of Gender CC Southern Africa warned that communities—especially women—stand to lose the most under a fund dominated by large financial institutions.

“Forest preservation is a right tied to survival and dignity,” she said. “Handing the TFFF to the World Bank risks turning that right into a financial tool.”

Kwami Kpondzo of the Global Forest Coalition added that World Bank involvement could marginalise Indigenous knowledge, weakening community ownership of forest resources.

MBPP concluded that the TFFF’s governance fails to prioritise the Global South and risks shifting attention away from genuine, community-led climate action toward opaque, market-driven schemes.

“The TFFF offers no path to justice—only the illusion of progress,” the coalition said.

-Advertisement-

The group urged world leaders to reject the fund and instead invest in climate finance models that empower frontline communities, uphold local sovereignty, and reinforce environmental justice.