Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has dubbed COP30 the forest COP. Taking place in Belém, a large urban centre in the Amazon, this choice signals a welcome shift from the capital cities of petro-states to the heart of the world’s most bio-diverse rainforest.

Yet, even as Belém hosts global climate negotiators, the Amazon and its coastline are under renewed pressure. While the spotlight is on protecting trees, new oil concessions are being awarded to keep rigs pumping.

On Nov. 11, dozens of Indigenous protesters forced their way into the COP30 venue demanding an end to industrial development in the Amazon. Indigenous leaders attending COP30 are demanding more say in how forests are managed.

Amid this tension, a new financial initiative has emerged as the potential solution: the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF). Managed by the World Bank as a multilateral trust fund, it would mobilize US$125 billion from public and private investors to reward forested countries for keeping their forests standing — forever.

The pitch is seductive — save forests, earn profits and mitigate climate change all at once. But the proposal raises two questions that demand scrutiny: Will this scheme actually make a major difference for the climate, and how will it impact communities that live in forests?

Read more: From the Amazon, Indigenous Peoples offer new compass to navigate climate change

The first........

© The Conversation