$2.5B plan to save the Congo rainforest

November 09, 2025

European countries have endorsed a $2.5 billion initiative to safeguard the Congo rainforest, disclosed the French presidency at the United Nations climate summit. This launch may overshadow the flagship programme of host country Brazil at COP30.

Securing increased funding to protect and restore the planet’s remaining rainforests is a cornerstone of this year’s UN climate talks—purposely set in the Brazilian Amazon to highlight the urgency of curbing emissions from deforestation.

Called the “Belem Call for the Forests of the Congo Basin”, the programme—led by France and Gabon and backed by Germany, Norway, Belgium and Britain—was first reported by Reuters and later confirmed by France. The European Commission, the World Bank and the African Development Bank have also signed on. The scheme plans to mobilise over $2.5 billion in the next five years, complemented by domestic funding from Central African nations, to help conserve the second-largest rainforest globally.

Participants say the initiative will support African nations in cutting deforestation through technology, training and partnerships, targeting the end of rainforest loss in the Congo Basin by 2030.

The world’s major rainforests — the Amazon in Brazil, the Congo Basin in Central Africa, and the Borneo-Mekong region in Southeast Asia — are all under threat from expanded farming, logging, mining and other industrial activities. The Congo Basin spans at least six African countries, with the largest share located within the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The initiative comes at a significant moment: the Congo rainforest is now taking in more net greenhouse gases than any other forest area. Meanwhile, its launch could divert attention from Brazil’s global forest fund, central to its COP30 agenda. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has promoted the Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF) as the new model for climate finance—shifting from grant-based funding to scalable investment structures.

“In theory, both initiatives differ markedly,” said a diplomat familiar with both proposals, noting that while the TFFF offers annual payments to rainforest nations without conditional strings, the coexistence of two high-profile rainforest funds may create confusing optics.

On the same day, Norway pledged $3 billion to the TFFF, marking its largest contribution to date; France indicated it could commit up to €500 million to Brazil’s initiative; Germany vowed a “significant” contribution as well.