Global investors managing more than $3 trillion in assets have urged governments to halt and reverse deforestation and ecosystem destruction by 2030, according to a joint statement released on Monday ahead of next month’s U.N. climate conference in Brazil.
Around 30 major institutional investors, including Swiss private bank Pictet Group and Nordic firm DNB Asset Management have so far endorsed the Belém Investor Statement on Rainforests, which will remain open for additional signatories until 1 November.
A recent report found that the world remains far from achieving its goal of stopping deforestation, with 8.1 million hectares (20 million acres) of forest, an area roughly the size of England lost in 2024 alone, largely due to agricultural expansion and wildfires.
“As investors, we are increasingly concerned about the significant financial risks that tropical deforestation and nature loss pose to our portfolios,” the statement said.
The signatories called for stronger legal, regulatory, and financial frameworks to protect forests and ensure economic stability. Jan Erik Saugestad, CEO of Nordic investment firm Storebrand Asset Management, said that “deforestation undermines the natural systems that global markets depend on, from climate regulation to food and water security.”
Earlier this year, the European Union postponed implementation of its anti-deforestation law by one year following opposition from industry groups and trade partners such as Brazil, Indonesia, and the United States, who argued that the rules would be costly and harm exports to Europe.
Ingrid Tungen, head of deforestation-free markets at the Rainforest Foundation Norway, said that the stance of U.S. President Donald Trump, a known climate sceptic had weakened global environmental efforts.
“I think Trump has made it more difficult for investors and fund managers to take climate and biodiversity into account in such a volatile market,” she said. “Every investor we speak to believes that failing to address deforestation and climate change poses enormous long-term risks, not only from an ethical perspective but because it directly threatens market stability and profitability.”
As the Ukraine war is highlighted by some leaders during the United Nations' 81st General Assembly meetin...
The 81st UN General Assembly returns for its third day in New York on Thursday, with world leaders delivering high-level speeches and holding diplo...
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained low on Thursday, as Iran reiterated that it will neither enter into new negotiations with th...
As the Ukraine war is highlighted by some leaders during the United Nations' 81st General Assembly meeting in New York, Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early on Thursday with ballistic missiles, killing two people and injuring six, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained low on Thursday, as Iran reiterated that it will neither enter into new negotiations with the United States nor re-open the Strait as long as its conditions are not met, despite recent indirect talks in New York mediated by Qatar.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in New York on Wednesday, as Washington pushes for an end to the war in Ukraine and Kyiv and Moscow continue to strike energy infrastructure.
U.S. President Donald Trump said his team held a three-hour meeting with an Iranian delegation in New York that he described as “very good” and “productive”, with another round of talks scheduled soon.
The 81st UN General Assembly continues in New York on Wednesday, with another day of high-level speeches and diplomatic meetings. The wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, global security and international cooperation remain at the centre of discussions.
Türkiye’s COP31 presidency has unveiled an action agenda designed to turn climate commitments into concrete projects and measurable results, focusing on clean energy, waste reduction, resilient cities and industrial decarbonisation.
Greenland and Antarctica have shed a combined 11.3 trillion tonnes of ice since 1979, according to the most comprehensive satellite study of the planet's ice sheets to date, with researchers warning the pace of loss has accelerated sharply in recent decades.
The European Union will continue allowing large-scale plastic waste exports to Türkiye despite concerns over recycling rates, environmental damage and the risk of illegal waste trafficking.
Hundreds of thousands of deep-diving turtles, known as olive ridley sea turtles, have arrived on Mexico’s southern coast for one of nature’s most striking nesting events. But conservation officials warn that climate change is making it increasingly difficult for their eggs to hatch.
August 2026 tied as the hottest month ever recorded globally, pushing average temperatures above the critical 1.5°C threshold as extreme weather swept across several regions, the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said.
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