Approval of Foundational Governing Document Is a Key Step in TFFF’s Operationalisation
Representatives from the governments of Brazil, Norway, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Indonesia, serving the TFFF interim Board, adopted on July 22 the TFFF Charter, the Facility’s foundational governing document.
The adoption of the Charter marks the beginning of the initial phase of the Facility and paves the way for several key next steps, including the establishment of the Financial Intermediary Fund (FIF) at the World Bank, the establishment of the TFFF Secretariat, including the appointment of an Acting Administrator to lead the Secretariat pending CEO recruitment, and the launch of the formal process to prepare the Operations Manual.
→ Read the Charter here.
The Charter enshrines the principles that make the Facility unique in the international environmental finance landscape: supporting the long-term conservation and sustainable use of tropical and subtropical forests at scale through providing annual payments to tropical forest countries based on the area of eligible forests; ensuring parity between Tropical Forest Countries and Sponsor Countries on its Board; and an elevated role for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) in its governance. The structure enshrined in the Charter embodies a new paradigm of partnership and cooperation that the TFFF seeks to advance.
The Facility’s governance structure will include: a Board of Directors; a Technical and Scientific Advisory Panel; an IPLCs Advisory Council; a Secretariat and a Trustee.
As per the Charter, the TFFF Board may comprise up to 12 member countries during the initial phase. Currently, seven seats are filled by Democratic Republic of the Congo, Germany, Brazil, France, the Netherlands, Norway, and Indonesia. The addition of new members will seek to maintain parity between the number of Tropical Forest Countries and Sponsor Countries.
The TFFF Board also confirmed Norway and Brazil as co-chairs for the initial phase and invited the interim IPLC Working Group to continue providing advice until the IPLC Advisory Council is formally established.
The Facility will enter the operational phase of its set-up when the Board considers it has achieved a sufficient degree of institutional and operational maturity, including for example, the adoption of the Operations Manual and following the establishment of the Tropical Forest Investment Fund (TFIF) as a separate legal entity.
During the operational phase, the Board composition will change to consist of up to a maximum of 18 member countries, maintaining parity between Sponsor Countries and Tropical Forest Countries, and the Board will elect new Co-Chairs in accordance with the Charter. By virtue of their functions, a representative of the Trustee, the Chair of the Technical and Scientific Advisory Panel, and the Chair of the IPLCs Advisory Council are invited to attend Board meetings in a non-decision-making capacity.
On August 15th, the Contribution Agreement between Germany and the World Bank as the Trustee to the Financial Intermediary Fund was concluded, thereby releasing 20 million EUR to finance the initial administrative costs of the Trustee and the TFFF Secretariat hosted at the World Bank.
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