By Lisandra Paraguassu
BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced on Tuesday a $1 billion investment in the Tropical Forests Forever Facility, a multilateral funding mechanism it has proposed to support conservation of endangered forests, at a United Nations event in New York.
The announcement, which confirmed an earlier report by Reuters citing sources, makes Brazil the first country to commit a contribution to the forest fund.
"Brazil will become the first country to lead by example with a $1 billion investment in the fund," Lula said, adding that he expects other countries to also announce ambitious contributions.
Sources had told Reuters the move aims to unlock more contributions from both wealthy and developing economies, which have been at odds about funding global climate policy.
The TFFF has received initial signs of support from nations such as China, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Norway, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, according to people involved in the negotiations.
Policymakers envision the TFFF as a $125 billion fund combining sovereign and private-sector contributions that would be managed like an endowment, paying countries annual stipends based on how much of their tropical forests remain standing.
To achieve that lofty target, Brazil needs governments and major philanthropies to contribute the first $25 billion, which could then attract another $100 billion from private investors, under preliminary estimates.
(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu in BrasiliaWriting by Manuela AndreoniEditing by Brad Haynes, Nia Williams and Chizu Nomiyama )
