UK withdraws millions in funding from world’s second-largest rainforest in Congo

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The UK has <a href="https://www.zsl.org/news-and-events/feature/west-congo-basin-biodiverse-landscapes-fund">abandoned</a> <a href="https://www.thetimes.com/uk/environment/article/80m-fund-congo-basin-rainforest-cut-7bf9tq7dt">projects</a> worth tens of millions of pounds that were meant to help protect Congo rainforests and support local people.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Together, these initiatives would have made up around half of the £200m that the UK pledged to support conservation in the Congo basin – the world’s second-largest rainforest.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">When it hosted <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/cop26-key-outcomes-agreed-at-the-un-climate-talks-in-glasgow/">COP26</a> in Glasgow, the UK led a new <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/over-100-leaders-make-landmark-pledge-to-end-deforestation-at-cop26">initiative</a> to end forest loss, which included a <a href="https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20230106145223/https://ukcop26.org/cop26-congo-basin-joint-donor-statement/">collective pledge</a> by 12 donors of “at least” $1.5bn (£1.1bn) for Congo rainforest nations by 2025.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Development minister Jenny Chapman <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-06-25/hl1343">revealed</a> last week that, as of 2024, the UK had only provided £39.8m towards this goal.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Alongside the <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-nearly-a-tenth-of-global-climate-finance-threatened-by-trump-aid-cuts/">US</a> and much of Europe, the UK has <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uk-is-halving-its-climate-finance-for-developing-countries/">significantly cut</a> its aid budget in recent years, leading to much of its Congo rainforest spending being cancelled or reappraised.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The government says it still plans to “<a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/52200/documents/289965/default/">prioritise</a>” rainforest regions, including the Congo basin, but civil society groups and MPs are <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uk-is-halving-its-climate-finance-for-developing-countries/">concerned</a> about the lack of “ring-fenced” forest funding in the UK’s new aid strategy.</p>

<h2 class="wp-block-heading">COP pledge</h2>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">At COP26, the UK – led by then prime minister Boris Johnson – launched the “<a href="https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20230418175226/https://ukcop26.org/glasgow-leaders-declaration-on-forests-and-land-use/">Glasgow leaders’ declaration</a>”, with a goal to “halt and reverse forest loss” by 2030. This was backed by more than 140 nations.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The UK also made various funding pledges, including <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/over-100-leaders-make-landmark-pledge-to-end-deforestation-at-cop26">£200m</a> to protect the Congo basin, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/over-100-leaders-make-landmark-pledge-to-end-deforestation-at-cop26">£350m</a> for tropical forests in Indonesia and “<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/12-billion-donor-support-to-halt-and-reverse-forest-loss-and-protect-land-rights">up to £300m</a>” for the Amazon.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">These commitments target the world’s three largest rainforests, all of which face major forest loss due to threats such as agriculture, logging and <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-nine-tipping-points-that-could-be-triggered-by-climate-change/">climate change</a>.&nbsp;</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Congo basin is the <a href="https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/publication/a-fair-deal-for-the-sustainable-development-of-the-congo-basin-countries-and-the-protection-of-the-rainforest/">planet’s largest</a> forested carbon sink. Yet, its six host nations are <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?most_recent_value_desc=false">among</a> the poorest in the world and face significant funding barriers.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This has global ramifications. An official UK <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/696e0eae719d837d69afc7de/National_security_assessment_-_global_biodiversity_loss__ecosystem_collapse_and_national_security.pdf">assessment</a> warned that “degradation or collapse” of the Amazon or Congo rainforests “threaten UK national security and prosperity”.</p>

<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Forest cuts</h2>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Following successive aid cuts introduced by both the <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-how-the-uk-has-fallen-40-behind-on-its-11-6bn-climate-finance-pledge/">Conservative</a> and then <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uk-is-halving-its-climate-finance-for-developing-countries/">Labour</a> governments – tracking a <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-nearly-a-tenth-of-global-climate-finance-threatened-by-trump-aid-cuts/">global trend</a> – the UK’s Congo funding is<strong> </strong>under threat.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The <a href="https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/programme/GB-GOV-1-301464/summary">Congo basin forest action programme</a> (CBFA) was <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/world-leaders-launch-forests-and-climate-leaders-partnership-to-accelerate-momentum-to-halt-and-reverse-forest-loss-and-land-degradation-by-2030">launched</a> by the UK at COP27. It was explicitly set up to provide “<a href="https://iati.fcdo.gov.uk/iati_documents/S30146412.odt">roughly half</a>” of the UK’s £200m Congo pledge.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">CBFA set out to “empower central African nations”, such as the <a href="https://interactive.carbonbrief.org/the-carbon-brief-profile-drc/index.html">Democratic Republic of the Congo</a> (DRC), with support for “<a href="https://www.rainforestfoundationuk.org/our-projects/community-forests/">community forests</a>” and other measures to curb forest loss.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Now, after <a href="https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/programme/GB-GOV-1-301464/documents">reporting</a> delays, the UK has slashed the CBFA as part of the Labour government’s recent aid cuts, intended to free up money for defence spending.&nbsp;</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Its original £90m budget has now been <a href="https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/programme/GB-GOV-1-301464/summary">reduced</a> to £18.8m. Government data <a href="https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/programme/GB-GOV-1-301464/summary">shows</a> that £15m of this has already been spent.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This is not the only Congo project that has been dropped due to this latest round of aid cuts.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Congo part of the <a href="https://iatipublisher-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/document-link/414/BLF-WCB-FBC---2023-clean-redacted-202403200103121745550284.pdf">biodiverse landscapes fund</a> – <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/2622/pdf/">championed</a> by the previous government and worth at least £12.3m – has been <a href="https://www.zsl.org/news-and-events/feature/west-congo-basin-biodiverse-landscapes-fund">closed</a>, just two years into its seven-year schedule.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Government documents reveal more Congo forest funding is at risk as the UK scales back its aid budget, including the UK’s two largest remaining projects in the region.&nbsp;</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/programme/GB-GOV-1-301321/documents">One initiative</a>, intended to “incubate forest-friendly enterprises” in DRC, faces “reduc[ed] budgets”. Officials working on the other, while more optimistic, <a href="https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/programme/GB-GOV-1-301073/summary">reported</a> that the project may be forced to operate in fewer countries as the cuts set in.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Documents also reveal the difficulties that come when operating in the Congo, including “<a href="https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/programme/GB-GOV-1-301464/documents">complex political economies</a>”<strong> </strong>and, in Gabon, a military coup – which “<a href="https://iatipublisher-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/document-link/414/BLF-Annual-Review-FY2324-FINAL-202412120412311745550283.pdf">complicated matters</a>”.</p>

<h2 class="wp-block-heading">‘Breaking promises’</h2>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/damianfleming?originalSubdomain=uk">Damian Fleming</a>, a senior director of forests at <a href="https://wwf.panda.org/">WWF International</a> tells Carbon Brief:</p>

<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Tropical forest countries are making long-term policy and development choices in expectation that international partners will honour their commitments.”</p>
</blockquote>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In a <a href="https://members.parliament.uk/member/4062/writtenquestions">series</a> of recent parliamentary responses, Chapman revealed that the UK had only spent £39.8m on Congo forest finance, as of 2024. (She declined to provide any information on the <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-06-25/HL1340/">Indonesia</a> and <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-06-25/HL1342/">Amazon</a> regional goals.)&nbsp;</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Despite being <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/over-100-leaders-make-landmark-pledge-to-end-deforestation-at-cop26">presented</a> as the UK’s “<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20250214085336/https://cafi.org/news-centre/first-time-belgium-and-united-kingdom-fund-cafi">contribution</a>” to the £1.1bn-by-2025 global goal agreed at COP26, the £200m target has a <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-04-28/48828">deadline</a> of 2029.&nbsp;</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Therefore, while the collective goal has been met, the UK’s contribution so far has been <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/52200/documents/289965/default/">relatively small</a>.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://members.parliament.uk/member/4062/contact">Zac Goldsmith</a>, a former Conservative minister who oversaw the forest targets at COP26, tells Carbon Brief that, in his view, the UK has “discarded” its regional pledges:</p>

<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“We have gone from being perhaps the leader on protecting nature internationally to breaking promises to countries around the world for whom the environment is an existential issue.”</p>
</blockquote>

<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Future targets</h2>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Labour government says it has <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/53001/documents/296270/default/">met</a> the five-year “climate finance” target of <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uk-climate-aid-to-hit-11-6bn-goal-but-only-due-to-accounting-rule-change/">£11.6bn</a> that expires this year.<br /><br />Ministers also say the government has met “<a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/53001/documents/296270/default/">and exceeded</a>” the £3bn and £1.5bn <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uk-foreign-aid-for-nature-hits-800m-record-due-to-cash-for-carbon-credits/">sub-goals</a> for “preserving nature” and forests, respectively, within the £11.6bn. These are the funding streams that include support for the Congo basin and other rainforests.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The UK has funded a variety of projects in line with its forest goals, including <a href="https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/programme/GB-GOV-7-BPFBlueForests/summary">mangrove restoration</a> in Indonesia, support for <a href="https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/programme/GB-GOV-25-ICF-0049-AF/summary">carbon-offsetting projects</a> in Brazil and promoting “<a href="https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/programme/GB-GOV-7-BLF/summary">forest stewardship</a>” among farmers in Cameroon.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Chapman has stated that the UK will continue to “<a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/52200/documents/289965/default/">prioritise</a>” the Congo rainforest, in line with its <a href="https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-10444/CBP-10444.pdf">new plan</a> for aid spending in Africa. The UK even helped to launch a new “<a href="https://pfbc-cbfp.org/en/thematics/belem-call-to-action">call to action</a>” for Congo basin funding at <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/cop30-key-outcomes-agreed-at-the-un-climate-talks-in-belem/">COP30</a> last year.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The UK government also says it <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/52200/documents/289965/default/">supported</a> the creation of Brazil’s <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/cop30-key-outcomes-agreed-at-the-un-climate-talks-in-belem/">flagship</a> “<a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/cop30-could-brazils-tropical-forest-forever-fund-help-tackle-climate-change/">Tropical Forest Forever Facility</a>” (TFFF). However, so far it has <a href="https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/miliband-rainforest-pledge-shelved-optics-concerns-07nvgs6hj">not provided</a> any funding for the facility.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">When the government <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uk-is-halving-its-climate-finance-for-developing-countries/">announced</a> a new climate finance pledge for 2026 onwards, it stressed that nature would still be a “focus” and said it would also generate billions in “climate and nature positive investments”. Nevertheless, it dropped the “ring-fenced” amounts for nature and forests that had appeared in its previous pledge.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The UK, alongside other developed countries, has <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/developed-countries-failing-to-pay-fair-share-of-nature-finance-ahead-of-cop16/">pledged</a> to provide biodiversity finance to developing countries, under the <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/cop15-key-outcomes-agreed-at-the-un-biodiversity-conference-in-montreal/">Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework</a> (GBF) – a non-binding global pact to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030.&nbsp;</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://members.parliament.uk/member/4267/contact">Sarah Champion</a>, chair of the <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/98/international-development-committee/">international development committee</a> of MPs, says “sub-pledges” for nature and forests are a “cost-effective and impactful” way to ensure this finance is provided, alongside climate finance. She tells Carbon Brief that she was “concerned” about the move away from this approach:</p>

<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">&#8220;When the minister recently appeared before the international development committee, I was concerned to hear her characterise this shift as a &#8216;gamble&#8217;.”</p>
</blockquote>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">A government spokesperson tells Carbon Brief:</p>

<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“We remain committed to providing finance for forests, including in the Congo basin, as a core element of our overall climate funding.”</p>
</blockquote>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><em>A shorter version of this article was first published in Cropped, Carbon Brief’s fortnightly newsletter that provides a digest of food, land and nature news, on 15 July 2026. <a href="https://subscribe.carbonbrief.org/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Subscribe for free</a>.</em></p>

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<p>The post <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/uk-withdraws-millions-in-funding-from-worlds-second-largest-rainforest-in-congo/">UK withdraws millions in funding from world’s second-largest rainforest in Congo </a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org">Carbon Brief</a>.</p>