A United Nations report released Thursday reveals a multibillion-dollar funding gap for preserving tropical forests essential to fighting climate change, even as a new $100 million firefighting fund launched at the U.N. General Assembly and New York Climate Week to protect South America’s Amazon rainforest.
The New South American Firefighting Fund and Its Scope
The newly announced fund aims to improve detection and response to wildfires in South America, which endured one of its most severe fire seasons in 2024 across the Amazon, the Pantanal, and the Chiquitano dry forest. Renaissance Philanthropy and Conservation X Labs are leading the initiative, which is anchored by a $30 million contribution from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and an additional $5 million from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
Existing regional models—such as a fire-detection camera network in Brazil and a 15-year-old Indigenous fire brigade initiative in Bolivia—serve as a blueprint for the program. Yet the initiative fails to cover massive wooded areas in Southeast Asia and Africa. “Forest fires are a global issue,” said Bhima Yudhistira, executive director of the Jakarta-based Center of Economic and Law Studies, or CELIOS, who called leaving out Southeast Asia “a big mistake” and noted that tropical forest regions need international solidarity.
Did you know? Rainforests are not naturally adapted to fires like savannas are. According to Alex Dehgan, CEO of Conservation X Labs and South America fire fund director, nearly every fire in the Amazon basin is lit by a person rather than burning on its own.
Global Funding Shortfalls for Tropical Rainforests
Conserving and restoring tropical forests alongside developing sustainable agroforestry systems requires an additional $66.8 billion by 2030, according to a report published Thursday by the U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network. The study found that 2023 funding reached only $14.6 billion, leaving the world’s remaining rainforests—nearly 80% of which sit in South America’s Amazon Basin, Africa’s Congo Basin, and Southeast Asia’s island of Borneo—chronically underfinanced.
Distribution of existing resources remains uncoordinated and unequal. The Congo Basin, recognized as the world’s largest net carbon sink, receives just 11% of international funding, while foreign aid is projected to decline another 15% this year. Meanwhile, the Tropical Forest Forever Facility, launched at last year’s U.N. climate summit in Brazil to provide developing countries with funds to keep standing forests intact, is struggling to meet its initial $10 billion fundraising target by the end of the year.
Intensifying Wildfires and Economic Toll in Southeast Asia
While South American authorities brace for worsened drought and heat driven by an intensifying El Nino, Southeast Asia faces its own severe crisis. International support for recent fires in the region has been piecemeal, particularly in Indonesia, which shares the island of Borneo with Malaysia and Brunei. CELIOS estimates that fires between January and August will cost Indonesia roughly 40 to 123 trillion rupiah, amounting to approximately $2.2 to $6.8 million in economic and health losses.
Toxic haze from these fires has forced school closures and flight disruptions in Indonesia while raising public health alarms in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and the Philippines. “The international community needs to support efforts to extinguish forest and land fires in Indonesia,” said Bambang Hero Saharjo, director of the Regional Fire Management Resource Center — Southeast Asia.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was Southeast Asia excluded from the new firefighting fund?
The newly announced $100 million fund is specifically targeted at South America.
How much funding is required to properly conserve tropical forests by 2030?
According to a U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network report, an additional $66.8 billion is needed by 2030, against 2023 funding levels of just $14.6 billion.
What are the economic impacts of wildfires in Indonesia?
The Center of Economic and Law Studies estimates that fires between January and August have cost Indonesia between 40 and 123 trillion rupiah in economic and health losses.
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