High Forest, Low Deforestation (HFLD) finance report
This report examines how High Forest, Low Deforestation countries can access equitable climate and carbon finance. It reviews Paris Agreement pathways, voluntary carbon market options, and alternative incentive models, with insights from Gabon, the Republic of Congo, and Guyana to support long‑term forest conservation and climate mitigation.
Subject Tags
- Natural climate solutions
- Policy, Finance, and Markets
- Carbon markets
- Business and Industry
- Forest
- Indigenous Peoples
- Community-based conservation
Overview
The High Forest, Low Deforestation (HFLD) Finance Report analyzes how countries with large areas of intact forest and historically low deforestation can access fair, predictable, and long‑term climate finance. Although these countries—such as Gabon, Republic of Congo, and Guyana—provide major global climate benefits by maintaining forest carbon stocks, they receive only a small share of climate and carbon finance. Current systems primarily reward reductions in deforestation, not the stewardship that prevents deforestation in the first place.
The report explains why this creates a perverse incentive: nations may be better rewarded for reducing deforestation than for never having deforested at all. It argues that global climate goals require mechanisms that value the carbon storage, cooling effects, biodiversity, and ecosystem services provided by intact forests.
Core Themes
What HFLD means: No universal definition exists, but most frameworks classify countries with >50% forest cover and <0.22% annual deforestation as HFLD.
Climate finance gap: Since 2007, HFLD countries have received under $2 billion—a tiny fraction of global climate finance.
Why HFLD forests matter: They store “irrecoverable carbon,” regulate climate, and absorb a large share of global emissions.
Barriers to finance: Existing mechanisms (REDD+, VCM, Article 6) focus on reducing emissions, not maintaining low emissions.
Risk of losing intact forests: Without incentives, HFLD countries face pressure to convert forests for economic development.
Overall Conclusion
HFLD countries are essential to global climate stability, yet current finance systems undervalue their contributions. A more equitable climate finance architecture is needed—one that rewards keeping forests standing, not only reducing deforestation.