Amazon Fund: U.S. Announces $500 Million Investment

On Thursday (20), US President Joe Biden announced during the Forum on Large Economies on Energy and Climate that he plans to support the Amazon Fund with an investment of US$ 500 million in the next five years.

The amount is ten times higher than what the United States suggested to the Brazilian government in February of this year, which was US$ 50 million. It is worth noting that, even with the announcement, the release of the funds still depends on approval from the US Congress.

This is one of Biden’s initiatives to intensify the fight against climate change, which already includes an investment of US$ 1 billion in the UN Green Climate Fund. The aim is to encourage countries to contribute to the preservation and conservation of the environment. The Amazon Fund, created in 2008, operates with voluntary donations from countries and companies, based on the results of conservation of the Amazon rainforest.

Brazil is one of the 26 countries that make up the Forum on Large Economies on Energy and Climate, whose main purpose is to implement the measures of the Paris Agreement. Biden hopes that, with the announced support, other countries will also encourage contributions to the Amazon Fund.

The Fund seeks, simultaneously, to stimulate donor confidence regarding the effective use of resources and finance forests without generating carbon credits. It is important to mention that, since its inception, the Amazon Fund has received funding from two countries, Norway and Germany, which suspended the transfers during the Bolsonaro administration. After the defeat of the former president in the 2022 elections, new investments and intentions for agreements were announced, for example, from France and the European Union to contribute to the fund.

How Can the Amazon Fund Be Used?

Since 2008, the Amazon Fund has raised a total of R$ 3.39 billion in donations. The majority of the donations were made by Norway (R$ 3.18 billion), followed by Germany with R$ 192.6 million, and Petrobras with R$ 17.2 million. The purpose of the fund is to raise money for projects related to prevention, monitoring, and combating deforestation, as well as actions for conservation and sustainable use of the Amazon biome. However, up to 20% of the resources may be used for other biomes.

The projects can be proposed by the federal and state government, non-profit organizations, multilateral institutions, and also by companies. The management of the fund is carried out by the BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development) together with two committees: a technical one, which certifies data and emissions calculations, and another advisory one, formed by civil society members, which defines criteria for the use of the resources.

The Amazon Fund bases its operations on the parameters of Redd (Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation), proposed by Brazil at the UN climate conference in 2006. The mechanism works, simultaneously, to stimulate donor confidence regarding the effective use of resources and finance forests without generating carbon credits. In the case of the Amazon Fund, the reductions in carbon emissions count towards Brazil’s goals under the Paris Agreement and are not sold as compensation for donors.