LONDON — The British government is divided over whether to stump up the cash for a flagship environmental pledge meant to protect tropical forests, jeopardizing a potential announcement by Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the COP30 U.N. climate summit in Brazil.
Starmer confirmed last week he would be attending the COP30 leaders’ summit in the Amazon city of Belém next month. The meeting will be hosted by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a close ally of the U.K. prime minister.
At the heart of Lula’s agenda is a new plan to set up a fund of up to $125 billion, which pays out returns to donor countries and the private sector, and also supports tropical forest countries — known as the Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF). Brazil has pledged an initial $1 billion and has appealed to the U.K. and other allies for support.
However, Starmer’s government is yet to confirm that it will invest public money into the scheme.
According to three people familiar with discussions in government, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, Climate Minister Katie White and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy are all supportive, but officials in Rachel Reeves’ Treasury are questioning the cost of backing the plan, given pressures on government finances and less than a month before a Budget widely expected to raise taxes at home.
Some officials in No. 10 also “remain to be convinced,” said one of the people, granted anonymity to discuss live policy discussions in government.
“If it is signing up for anything that is additional money, for which the benefits to us in the U.K. are in any way obtuse, we need to be confident that we won’t be left holding the baby on our own,” the person added, saying that officials are seeking to establish which other countries will be contributing too.
“It’s all being thrashed out with the Treasury,” said a second person familiar with discussions in Whitehall. “It’s very late in the day. It’s very close to the Budget.”
‘Royal approval’
The scale of the U.K.’s potential contribution is unknown, but a sum of $1 billion had previously been envisaged by architects of the plan, the second person said.
The U.K. has played a key role alongside Brazil in establishing the TFFF and has been active on its interim steering committee.
The initiative also appears to have royal approval, after being nominated for an Earthshot Prize, the annual environmental award set up by Prince William, who will also be at the COP30 conference. Downing Street confirmed this week that Starmer will attend the Earthshot award ceremony on Nov. 6.
Climate campaigners had been confident the U.K. would be a lead contributor — but still remain in the dark about the government’s intentions.
“It is critical for the U.K. to invest into TFFF,” said Clement Metivier, a senior adviser at the environmental charity WWF. Any contribution would be an investment with potential returns, not a grant, he added, noting that protection of tropical forests around the world would also protect U.K. supply chains.
Metivier said he was aware of “live discussions in government on the mechanism” for contributing to the TFFF and how potential investments might be counted on government balance sheets.
“At the end of the day I think it is going to be critical for the prime minister to weigh in,” he added. “Now that we have confirmation the prime minister is going to COP there is a big question on the table: What is going to be the U.K.’s offer? Lula is going to launch [the TFFF] at the leaders’ summit. It makes a lot of sense for the U.K. prime minster to announce an investment into TFFF [at the same event.]”
A government spokesperson said: “We worked closely with Brazil to support the development of Tropical Forests Forever Facility, and will provide an update in due course.”
Brazil’s Ambassador to the U.K. Antonio Patriota said last week that the involvement of the U.K. could be vital. “I would not minimize the role the U.K. can play given [London’s] place as a financial center,” he told MPs on the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee. China and the UAE were also “following closely” as potential investors into the TFFF, he said.
He also welcomed Prince William’s “interest” in the plan.
“Just the fact it was shortlisted is a bit like an Oscar nomination,” he said.
Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify how the Tropical Forests Forever Facility operates.
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