Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

The Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) is a climate finance initiative that was launched in 2025 at the climate conference COP30 in Brazil. It is a global fund designed to support long-term conservation of tropical forests by economically rewarding the countries that protect them.
Importantly, 20% of all disbursements are supposed to go directly to Indigenous People and Local Communities (IPLCs) living in the rainforests – as they are presented as the proven best stewards. As the main initiative at the world’s biggest climate event, TFFF represents how international climate governance is being imagined and perceived and what roles are being attributed to Indigenous People. The values and priorities influencing the initiative are therefore of great importance. This study analyses TFFFs official documents and statements, as well as independent critique by the civil society of the initiative. For the analysis of the texts, Critical Discourse Analysis combined with Pierre Bourdieu’s field theory was used to grasp both political and social dimensions.

The study shows that TFFF is heavily influenced by neoliberal ideology, where measurability and economic factors are prioritized before ecological and social goals. The study also finds that there is a risk that TFFF will reproduce the marginalization of Indigenous People within climate governance. Further, the value of Indigenous People within TFFF highly depends on a functioning world market, as the payments for their rainforest stewardship depends on it. These findings increase the understanding of climate change as not only an ecological problem, but also as a political and social one. It is also relevant for a deeper understanding of what trends and ideas has shaped the current international understanding of and priorities in international climate governance.