Amazon Fund receives first donations from US, Switzerland
This week, the Amazon Fund formally received the first donations pledged by the US and Switzerland, adding up to BRL 45 million. In doing so, the two nations have joined the 15-year-old initiative, which until then had received contributions from Norway and Germany, as well as state-owned oil giant Petrobras.
Created in 2008, the fund is hailed as the leading international initiative for reducing global warming emissions and preserving the forest.
The board of directors of Brazil’s National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), which manages the fund, approved the contracts from Switzerland—worth CHF 5 million—and the US—worth USD 3 million.
The Swiss government had reported it was joining the fund in July this year, during an investment forum held in Brasília. The participation of the US had been expected since April, when US President Joe Biden announced the country intended to invest $500 million in the Amazon Fund over the next five years.
Ever since it was established, the Amazon Fund has received BRL 3.4 billion and financed more than 102 projects to preserve the forest and promote sustainable activities in the Amazon, with a total investment of BRL 1.75 billion. The mechanism provides non-reimbursable support for efforts to prevent, monitor, and combat deforestation and for the conservation and sustainable use of the Amazon, as well as for the development of systems to monitor and control deforestation in other Brazilian biomes or tropical countries, up to a limit of 20 percent of the fund’s resources.
Citing an assessment of the fund’s effectiveness, the BNDES noted the projects it has supported have benefited approximately 241 thousand people with sustainable production activities, in addition to 101 indigenous territories in the Amazon and 196 conservation areas.
Comeback
In 2019, during Jair Bolsonaro’s administration, then–Environment Minister Ricardo Salles dissolved the two committees tasked with managing the Amazon Fund’s resources, making it impossible to finance projects and continue donations. The existence of these committees is a contractual condition for donors, aimed at preventing the money from being used for other purposes. As per data from the BNDES, Brazil failed to invest around BRL 3 billion in environmental measures from 2019 to 2022—an amount that remained in the fund after the guiding committees were dissolved.
In October 2022, Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered the government to take the necessary steps to reactivate the Amazon Fund. At the time, the majority of the justices considered the extinction of the committees unconstitutional, as it would represent a government omission in its duty to preserve the Amazon. Re-established by decree on January 1, 2023 by President Lula, the committees have resumed their activities, which makes room for new contributions.
