Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on November 7, 2025
3 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
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European nations commit $2.5 billion to conserve the Congo rainforest, aiming to end deforestation by 2030, potentially clashing with Brazil's COP30 focus.
By Lisandra Paraguassu and Simon Jessop
BELEM, Brazil (Reuters) -European nations have backed a $2.5 billion plan to save the Congo rainforest, France's presidency told a United Nations climate summit, launching a conservation scheme that may steal some thunder from the flagship initiative of COP30 host Brazil.
Mobilizing more money to protect and restore the world's last remaining rainforests is a central goal of the U.N. climate talks, deliberately held in the Brazilian Amazon this year to focus on the need to fight emissions from rampant deforestation.
"The Belem Call for the Forests of the Congo Basin" initiative led by France and Gabon and backed by Germany, Norway, Belgium and Britain was first reported by Reuters on Thursday and later confirmed by France.
The European Commission, World Bank and African Development Bank have also signed on. The effort aims to mobilize more than $2.5 billion over the next five years, along with domestic funds from Central African countries, to help protect the second-largest rainforest in the world.
Backers said they will also help African nations reduce deforestation through technology, training and partnerships, aiming to end deforestation in the Congo Basin by 2030.
The Congo, the Amazon - the world's biggest rainforest - and the Borneo-Mekong-Southeast Asia basin, the third-largest rainforest, all face threats from expanding farm frontiers, logging, mining, and other industries.
The Congo Basin rainforest spans at least six countries in central Africa with the largest portion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
While protecting the Congo has drawn attention because it now absorbs more net greenhouse gases than other forests, the timing of the news threatened to compete with Brazil's focus on a global forest fund at the center of its COP30 agenda.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has touted the Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF), as the future of climate finance because it replaces grants with a more scalable investment model.
"In theory, both initiatives are very different," said a diplomat familiar with both proposals, noting that the TFFF would offer annual payments to rainforest nations with no strings attached. Still, the optics of two rival rainforest funds may be unhelpful, the source added.
Norway also pledged $3 billion to the TFFF on Thursday, the biggest contribution so far. France said it could offer up to 500 million euros to the Brazilian-led initiative. Germany on Friday promised a "significant" contribution.
(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu in Belem and Simon Jessop in Sao Paulo; Editing by Brad Haynes, Diane Craft and Cynthia Osterman)
The Congo Rainforest Conservation Initiative is a $2.5 billion plan endorsed by European nations aimed at protecting the Congo rainforest and reducing deforestation through various support measures.
Deforestation is the process of clearing or thinning forests by humans, often resulting in damage to the quality of the land and loss of biodiversity.
Climate finance refers to the financial resources allocated to projects aimed at mitigating or adapting to climate change, including investments in renewable energy and conservation efforts.
The World Bank provides financial and technical assistance for projects that aim to reduce poverty and promote sustainable development, including initiatives focused on environmental conservation.
The Congo Basin rainforest is the second-largest rainforest in the world and plays a crucial role in absorbing carbon dioxide, thus helping to mitigate climate change.
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