COP30 starts with launch of TFFF and pledge to quadruple sustainable fuels

Brazil opened the COP30 climate negotiations in Belém by formally launching the Tropical Forests Forever Facility and announcing a pledge to quadruple the production of sustainable fuels.

First, President Lula officially launched the Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF), a mechanism first announced at COP29 last year to provide long-term financing to countries that protect and sustainably manage their tropical forests.  

Nearly 50 countries expressed support for the initiative, and several (including Brazil, Indonesia, Norway and Portugal) have already contributed, bringing the fund’s initial capital to over US$5 billion. 

Brazil has set a target of raising US$125 billion in public and private capital for the TFFF, but the first US$10 billion should come primarily from governments and philanthropies.

The launch was welcomed by climate and nature protection organisations, but these also warned that more contributions are necessary for the facility to reach its full potential.

“The backing from almost 50 countries is encouraging and marks an important start for the TFFF, reflecting growing recognition of the need for collective action to protect and restore tropical forests. However, the pool of those that have actually committed funding so far remains limited. Broader support will be essential if the Facility is to become fully operational. It is the ultimate test of whether nations — especially wealthier ones — will recognize their shared responsibility for protecting the forests that underpin every economy on Earth,” said Mirela Sandrini, Interim Executive Director, World Resources Institute Brazil.  

4X Pledge on Sustainable Fuels

Brazil also announced the Belém 4X Pledge on Sustainable Fuels, a commitment to quadruple production and use of hydrogen, biogases, biofuels, and e-fuels by 2035. The pledge is based on a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) urging fast development of these alternative energy sources to transition away from oil, gas and coal.

However, the pledge’s wording and consideration of all these fuels as “sustainable” is a cause for concern among environmentalists, who worry this will encourage the continued use of natural gas to make hydrogen (since the pledge doesn’t require hydrogen to be made from renewables), and that the growing production of biofuels could divert land away from food production.

“A major focus of COP30 will be on Just Transition for food systems, and the protection and restoration of forests, and other ecosystems. The IPCC states that forest protection will have the highest mitigation value, however, exploitation of natural forests and cropland for bioenergy undermines this priority. Ambition on food and forests cannot be achieved while also quadrupling the use of these fuels, which would require significant amounts of wood from natural forests, plus monoculture plantations and energy crops across vast areas of land converted for this purpose,” said Hikmat Soeriatanuwijaya, Asia Senior Partnerships and Outreach Officer, Oil Change International.

Janet Ranganathan, Managing Director of Strategy, Learning and Results at the World Resources Institute, added: “While countries are right to transition away from fossil fuels, they also need to ensure their plans don’t trigger unintended consequences, such as more deforestation either at home or abroad. Doubling biofuel production would have significant implications for the world’s land, especially without guardrails to prevent large-scale expansion of land dedicated to biofuels, which drives ecosystem loss.”