Download
PDF
Select
Goals

2019 Goal 8 assessment

Published: November 1, 2019

Key messages

  • The current amount of green finance for forests captured by this assessment is under USD 22 billion. Since our in-depth assessment of the NYDF finance goals in 2017, overall finance for forests has increased by a minor amount (nine percent).
  • The amount of finance forests receive does not reflect their potential to contribute to climate change mitigation. Support to address deforestation and protect forests in tropical countries comprises less than 1.5 percent — only USD 3.2 billion — of the USD 256 billion committed by multilateral institutions and developed country donors since 2010 to climate change mitigation. The renewables sector alone has received over 100 times more commitments of finance than forests in the same time period.
  • There is a need for new finance, but equally, or even more necessary, is the shifting of existing funds from traditional to sustainable investments. Green finance comprises a fraction of the grey finance flowing into countries with high levels of deforestation; development finance for agriculture amounts to 15 times more than climate mitigation finance with a forestry objective.
  • Companies and governments continue to provide subsidies and support to activities that potentially harm forests. Even where there is interest, financial institutions and lenders largely lack the safeguards necessary to ensure that investments and finance are not supporting deforestation.


Further Resources

2019 Goal 8 assessment
2019 Goal 8 assessment [Low Resolution]
2019 Goal 8 assessment [Low Resolution]
magnifiercrossmenu