UN Report Warns of Multibillion Dollar Funding Gap for Tropical Forest Preservation

South American Firefighting Fund Launched at U.N. General Assembly

Supported by a $30 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and a $5 million pledge from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, this new effort seeks to gather $100 million for firefighting efforts throughout South America. Led by non-profits Renaissance Philanthropy and Conservation X Labs, the fund was announced during New York Climate Week and the U.N. General Assembly. In 2024, South America experienced one of its worst fire seasons, with record-breaking blazes hitting the Chiquitano dry forest, the Pantanal, and the Amazon. Donors and researchers are racing to prevent a repeat as an intensifying El Nino threatens to worsen drought and heat.

To enhance the detection and response to wildfires, the fund is modeling its approach on established regional efforts, such as Brazil’s network of fire-detection cameras and a 15-year-old program for Indigenous fire brigades in Bolivia.

We have to respond to fire in South America like we would any humanitarian crisis.

Alex Dehgan, CEO of Conservation X Labs and Renaissance Philanthropy’s South America fire fund director

Kumar Garg, president of Renaissance Philanthropy, emphasized the urgency of the intervention.

We’re at the possibility that we might lose the Amazon altogether, and once we lose the Amazon, we don’t get it back — the next couple of years are really going to matter.

Kumar Garg, president of Renaissance Philanthropy

Exclusion of African and Southeast Asian Forests Draws Criticism

Despite facing severe blazes exacerbated by climate change and El Nino, forests in Africa and Southeast Asia are excluded from the new South American fund. Massive fires in Indonesia have recently torched large stretches of land and triggered public health concerns over toxic haze throughout the region. Bhima Yudhistira, executive director of the Jakarta-based Center of Economic and Law Studies, or CELIOS, called the omission a “big mistake.”

“Forest fires are a global issue,” said Bhima Yudhistira, executive director of the Center of Economic and Law Studies, who added that “many of the tropical forest regions are affected by forest fires and need international solidarity.”

The U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network report released Thursday highlights that nearly 80% of the world’s remaining rainforests reside in the Amazon Basin, Africa’s Congo Basin, and Southeast Asia’s island of Borneo. However, these critical ecosystems remain chronically underfinanced. The Congo Basin, which serves as the world’s largest net carbon sink, receives only 11% of international funding, with foreign aid projected to decline by another 15%.

Global Funding Deficit for Tropical Forest Preservation

According to the U.N. report, conserving and restoring tropical forests alongside sustainable agroforestry systems requires an additional $66.8 billion by 2030. Funding as of 2023 reached only $14.6 billion, and the distribution of these existing resources lacks coordination and equality. Other financial initiatives, such as the Tropical Forest Forever Facility launched at last year’s U.N. climate summit in Brazil, have also struggled, finding it difficult to meet an initial fundraising target of $10 billion by the end of the year.

Rising global temperatures and worsening droughts have turned rainforests into tinderboxes, despite these ecosystems lacking natural adaptations to fire. A study published by the University of Maryland shows that wildfires now burn more than twice as much tree cover annually compared to two decades ago, and more than three times as much in tropical forests.

The Amazon does not burn on its own. Nearly every fire in the basin is lit by a person, which means nearly every fire was a decision somebody made. Since humans have created the systems that drive the fire crisis, we know we can also fix it.

Alex Dehgan, CEO of Conservation X Labs