African Governments Advance Forest Finance as Global Funding Lags

African governments are developing new ways to finance the protection and restoration of forests, providing practical examples of how forest finance can move from promising models to delivery at scale, according to the first Progress Report of the Forest Finance Roadmap launched today at the Forest & Climate Leaders’ Partnership (FCLP) Forest Finance Day during Climate Week NYC.

The global assessment finds that forest finance is beginning to move and credible mechanisms capable of scaling are gaining momentum, but the pace and scale of change remain below what is required to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030.

The Roadmap was created to help change the economics of forest protection and close an estimated US$66.8 billion annual forest finance gap. Forests currently receive less than one per cent of global climate finance despite offering around one fifth of the world’s cost-effective mitigation potential.

Emelyne Cheney, Director, FCLP Secretariat, said: “One year on, the Forest Finance Progress Report provides a clearer picture of where finance is flowing, and where it is not. That clarity matters: closing the forest finance gap starts with understanding its scale and where the gaps lie. Pressures on forests are intensifying and the solutions are clear, but they need sustained political attention and investment at scale to turn into action. Forests cannot be an afterthought in the international climate agenda – they need to remain at the centre of it.”

African leadership highlighted in the report includes:

Kenya has secured at least US$229 million in new external finance for forest- and landscape-based economic development, principally through a US$200 million World Bank operation and a US$29.2 million Green Climate Fund Lake Region grant. Kenya also increased its forestry budget by approximately US$38.7 million in FY2025/26 and maintained an allocation of about US$143.8 million for FY2026/27.

Ethiopia is investing 0.5-1% of its annual federal budget – approximately US$40-80 million a year – in forest and landscape restoration, against an estimated US$4.3 billion annual cost from land degradation. Its nationally owned financing mechanism has helped attract hundreds of millions of dollars in international concessional finance and co-financing.

Nigeria has announced its Securing Nigeria’s Forest Future Country Package, creating a government-led framework to align development partners, financial institutions, philanthropy and private investment behind national forest, climate and biodiversity priorities. It is expected to launch internationally at COP31.

CAFI is developing a US$290 million Payments for Ecosystem Services pipeline, with an ambition to mobilise up to US$2 billion by 2035 across the Congo Basin. The programme aims to reach around 7.8 million direct beneficiaries, with at least 50% of resources flowing directly to farmers, local communities and Indigenous Peoples. Gabon is a CAFI partner country and is advancing results-based approaches to forest finance.

Africa is home to approximately 663 million hectares of forest – 16% of the world’s forest area. What happens to these forests will be critical to whether the world meets its commitment to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030.

The significance goes beyond raising more money for conservation. The approaches emerging across Africa show how forests can begin to be brought into core economic and investment decisions – creating greater value from keeping forests standing while supporting development, livelihoods and communities.

They also point to a wider shift in global forest leadership. African countries are not only calling for more international finance, but designing and deploying their own models for how forest finance should work – using domestic budgets, carbon markets, results-based payments and country-led investment frameworks to align finance with national priorities.

Other African countries are also bringing forest outcomes into mainstream financial policy. Côte d’Ivoire has launched Africa’s first Sustainability-Linked Finance Framework and secured West Africa’s first EUR 433 million sustainability-linked sovereign loan, while Uganda is piloting an approach to integrate forest and agricultural resilience into sovereign debt and credit analysis.

As Ethiopia prepares to host COP32 in Addis Ababa in 2027, these developments give African governments an opportunity to help shape the global forest finance agenda from the position of countries demonstrating solutions, not simply seeking finance.

Ethiopia: Putting national investment behind restoration

Ethiopia is demonstrating how domestic public finance can support long-term forest and landscape restoration and help leverage international investment. Land degradation is estimated to cost the country US$4.3 billion a year through reduced agricultural productivity and the loss of ecosystem services.

The Federal Government allocates between 0.5% and 1% of its annual budget – approximately US$40-80 million a year – to its Green Legacy and Landscape Restoration Fund. The nationally owned mechanism has helped attract hundreds of millions of dollars in concessional finance and co-financing from international partners.

In August, Ethiopia also became the 17th country to endorse the Intergovernmental Land Tenure Commitment, strengthening political support for the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities across forest and land landscapes.

Nigeria: Aligning investment behind national forest priorities

Nigeria has announced the creation of its Securing Nigeria’s Forest Future Country Package, expected to launch internationally at COP31 in Türkiye later this year.

Developed with support from FCLP, the package provides a government-led framework to translate Nigeria’s forest, climate and biodiversity priorities into coordinated action and investment.  It brings together priorities across government while creating a framework through which development partners, financial institutions, philanthropy and the private sector can align finance behind Nigeria’s objectives.  The package aims to strengthen forest management, restore degraded land, protect biodiversity and build climate resilience, while strengthening the conditions for private investment, blended finance and carbon finance.

H.E. Balarabe Abbas Lawal, Minister of Environment, Federal Republic of Nigeria, said: “We must strengthen the enabling environment for private investment, blended finance, carbon finance and ensure these investments translate into real benefits like livelihoods linked to conservation, commercially viable forest value chains, meaningful participation for women and young people in the green economy, also recognition of forest-dependent communities as partners, not bystanders, in sustainable forest management.”

Kenya: Mobilising investment for a forest-based economy

Kenya is demonstrating how external finance and domestic public investment can be combined to support forest- and landscape-based economic development. The Progress Report records at least US$229 million in new external finance approved during the recent reporting period, principally through a US$200 million World Bank operation and a US$29.2 million Green Climate Fund grant focused on the Lake Region.

Alongside this, Kenya increased its FY2025/26 forestry budget by approximately US$38.7 million and maintained a higher allocation of about US$143.8 million for FY2026/27. The report also highlights a wider pipeline of forest bioeconomy investment, including institutions aiming to mobilise US$10 billion by 2030 and 3.7 million hectares committed for protection and restoration.

Gabon: Scaling finance for standing forests

Gabon is advancing results-based approaches designed to generate greater economic value from protecting standing forests and help build new models for financing conservation across the Congo Basin.  Gabon is a partner country of the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI), which is developing approaches that link finance directly to forest and ecosystem outcomes.

CAFI’s growing Payments for Ecosystem Services pipeline currently totals US$290 million and aims to mobilise up to US$2 billion by 2035 from domestic and international public and private sources across the Congo Basin.

By 2035, CAFI aims to reach around 7.8 million direct beneficiaries and enrol around 2.9 million hectares in payments for environmental services and related performance-based schemes. At least 50% of resources are intended to flow directly to farmers, local communities and Indigenous Peoples.

Gabon also launched its FCLP Country Package in 2025, providing a government-led framework through which national forest, climate and development priorities can be aligned with investment and international partnerships.

Taken together, the examples show that the mechanisms exist and African governments are beginning to put them into practice. The test now is whether they can attract and deploy finance – and deliver benefits for forests, economies and communities – at the scale and speed required by 2030.