By Amazon, Unilever, and Nestlé join the UK, US and Norway in New $1Billion Initiative to Preserve Tropical Rainforests
This week during the International Climate Summit, three governments and nine giant corporations announced a pioneering coalition, called the LEAF, which is mobilizing to raise at least $ 1 billion this year, alone, for large-scale forest protection and sustainable development.
The coalition already includes the governments of the UK, US and Norway, and international companies, including Airbnb, Amazon, Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline, Nestlé and Unilever.
Known as LEAF, for reducing emissions by accelerating forest finance, the global initiative represents by far the largest private sector investment to protect tropical forests.
The goal is for governments, companies and NGOs to pay for high-quality emission reductions from tropical forests, verified to an independent standard.
The LEAF Coalition offers an important new approach that can help protect tree strips by providing the financial guarantee necessary for countries to begin prioritizing policies that reduce deforestation.
“With participation at the local level, this approach can be a triple benefit: for the climate, for tropical forests and for the people who depend on them.” said Manish Bapna, Acting President and CEO of the World Resources Institute.
More participants are expected to join in the coming months.
“This is a game changer in the fight to save tropical forests, a new model for catalyzing finance, on a scale that really is up to the challenge,” said Senior Vice President of the Environmental Defense Fund, Nathaniel Keohane.
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“The LEAF Coalition sets a high standard for how companies can complement deep cuts in their own emissions by investing in additional emission reductions from tropical and subtropical forests and also ensuring that the rights of indigenous peoples who have and continue to protect these forests are respected and complied with “, Keohane added.
This pioneering model of forest finance could channel tens of billions of dollars a year to ensure tree protection on the scale necessary to address the climate crisis and meet global climate goals.
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