&Green Fund: Investing in Inclusive Agriculture and Protecting Forests

The 1.2 billion hectares of tropical forests around the world act as crucial hubs of biodiversity and play a vital role in regulating the world's water-supply while serving as massive carbon reservoirs. The restoration and preservation of these forests are a necessary part of the effort to curb climate change. Climate change can lead to self-reinforcing negative spirals where local production losses heighten deforestation rates as producers are forced to clear forest to compensate for declining yields.   The &Green Fund will promote sustainable commodity production and higher productivity on agricultural land in selected countries with important tropical forest resources, thereby decreasing the pressure to clear forests for agricultural purposes. The fund will work to reduce emissions and increase the resilience of local communities by financing the transformation of tropical agricultural commodity supply chains from extractive to sustainable practices. The project will achieve this by providing technical assistance and financial support to producers with conditions that necessitate the protection and restoration of existing forests by focusing on supply chains in sectors that drive deforestation such as livestock, palm oil, soy, rubber, cocoa, and forestry.