As the UN chief warns of a “moral failure” that could doom the 1.5°C climate goal, Brazil’s President Lula da Silva is offering a $5.5 billion lifeline. The “Tropical Forests Forever Facility,” proposed at the Belem summit, is a desperate attempt to pull the world back from the brink of “deadly negligence.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s stark warning—that “every fraction of a degree higher means more hunger, displacement and loss”—has set the stakes for the talks. He blames “fossil fuel interests” for the global paralysis.
Lula’s fund is a direct, practical response. It aims to protect the world’s tropical rainforests, which are essential for absorbing the carbon emissions that are pushing temperatures past the 1.5°C limit. The fund would pay 74 developing nations to halt deforestation.
The plan is financed by interest-bearing loans, a model designed to make preservation economically viable. It has already secured $5.5 billion in pledges, led by Norway, and dedicates 20 percent of its funds to Indigenous communities.
The question is whether this new financial push can succeed. The summit is deeply divided, with the leaders of the top three polluting nations—the US, China, and India—notably absent. Lula is gambling that money can unite the world where politics has failed.