Baroness Sheehan
Main Page: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Lord Lemos (Lab)
I thank the noble Baroness for her question. The UK is supportive of the implementation of the Indonesian sustainable palm oil standard to support Indonesia’s sustainable economic, social and environmental objectives. Agricultural expansion for a small number of commodities, as the noble Baroness rightly notes, is the biggest driver of forest loss. We need to improve the productivity of existing land to reduce pressure on the forest frontier. We need to realise more economic benefits for forest countries from preserving forests than from deforestation. The UK is supporting small farmers and the Government of Indonesia in their commitment to greater food security, and working to improve supply-chain transparency internationally. This includes supporting international partnerships and initiatives such as the Tropical Forest Alliance. The UK ODA programme promotes sustainable farming in countries such as Indonesia by working with national Governments.
Baroness Sheehan (LD)
My Lords, the Tropical Forest Forever Facility, due to be launched at COP 30, is the Brazilian Government’s proposed blended finance mechanism to ensure that Governments and businesses around the world are able to provide the much-needed finance to stop the devastation deforestation causes, while making a return on their investment. This is crucial. We are not talking about loans or grants. Will the Government commit to making an investment in the TFFF when the World Bank facility opens? If not, why not?
Lord Lemos (Lab)
I thank the noble Baroness for raising the Tropical Forest Forever Facility; it is a very important part of the direction of travel on this subject and we welcome Brazil’s leadership on global forest finance, climate and nature, particularly in the lead-up to COP 30. We do need to find new ways to leverage private sector investment, as I think we all agree, into forest protection, and bold new ideas such as the Tropical Forest Forever Facility are really exciting and show great promise in the eyes of the Government and others. We are working with Brazil and other partners on the design and feasibility of the Tropical Forest Forever Facility ahead of COP 30 and we are keen to make as much progress as possible. We are hoping to see prioritisation of forests as an essential part of the solution to the climate and nature crisis. The Tropical Forest Forever Facility is developing at pace, and it is testament to President Lula’s leadership that he has committed to a $1 billion investment. The UK has provided over £1 million in technical assistance.