close

PRIORITY ACTIONS FOR DEFORESTATION- AND CONVERSION-FREE FINANCE


Aligning private financial flows with global forest goals

The financial sector plays a decisive role in halting deforestation and conversion. These priority actions outline how policymakers, regulators, and financial institutions can align financial flows with resilient, deforestation- and conversion-free land-use systems.
Download the Priority Actions

Why focus on finance?

Financial flows shape production, trade, and investment decisions worldwide. Aligning them with deforestation- and conversion-free goals is essential to de-risk supply chains, protect biodiversity, strengthen farmer livelihoods, and build economic resilience.

Why deforestation- and conversion-free?

Agricultural expansion is the leading cause of deforestation and ecosystem conversion, disrupting communities, weakening economies, and exposing supply chains to risk. Transitioning to deforestation- and conversion-free production meets global food and commodity needs while protecting forests and ensuring resilient livelihoods and markets.

Who should act?

Transforming forest finance requires action from all actors the financial system, each with distinct leverage:

  • Policymakers set the rules of the game—aligning climate, trade, and agricultural policies with deforestation-free goals.
  • Central banks and financial supervisors safeguard economic stability by requiring that forest and land-use risks are measured, disclosed, and managed across the system.
  • Financial institutions—from investors to lenders—can embed deforestation- and conversion-free standards in their portfolios, engage and influence clients and investees, and direct capital toward sustainable land-use models.

Together, these actors can shift the flow of finance at the speed and scale needed to protect and restore the world’s forests.

Developed and endorsed by

These Priority Actions have been endorsed by leading civil society organizations and initiatives committed to accelerating the forest finance transition. They were developed through multi-stakeholder engagement by the DCF Advisory Group, including The Nature Conservancy, WWF, the UN Climate High-Level Champions , and Climate Focus on behalf of the Forest Declaration Assessment. Other endorsing organizations include the folowing:

Is your organization interested in endorsing?

Fill the endorser form

The Forest Declaration Assessment tracks progress to enable accountability to meet the world's 2030 forest goals.

Menu
close
This project is supported by the Climate and Land Use Alliance and the Good Energies Foundation. Research that contributed to this project is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) supports this initiative on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag.

© 2025 Forest Declaration Assessment. All Rights Reserved

Menu
close
The Forest Declaration Assessment and the Forest Declaration Platform have been supported over the years by the Climate and Land Use Alliance, the Good Energies Foundation, the Bezos Earth Fund, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) of Germany, and the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), which supported this initiative on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag.
crossmenu