Repurposing Harmful Subsidies to Protect Tropical Rainforests: Accelerating the Implementation of Target 18 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

Target 18 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) commits Parties to identify, eliminate, phase out or reform incentives, including subsidies harmful to biodiversity, and to substantially reduce them by at least USD 500 billion per year by 2030. Progress on this target is fundamental to achieving the broader objectives of the KMGBF. Harmful incentives continue to drive biodiversity loss across sectors and undermine the effectiveness of conservation and restoration efforts. Addressing these incentives is therefore a prerequisite for the successful implementation of many of the other biodiversity targets.

This side event will place particular emphasis on tropical rainforests, which harbour up to 80 per cent of the world's terrestrial biodiversity and provide irreplaceable ecosystem services, including climate regulation, freshwater security and livelihoods for millions of people. Despite their global importance, tropical rainforests continue to be threatened by public policies and financial incentives that directly or indirectly encourage deforestation and ecosystem degradation.

The event will showcase new work being undertaken by Rainforest Foundation Norway (RFN) in partnership with Fundacion para la Conservacion y Desarrollo Sostenible (FCDS) in Colombia, Instituto de Estudos Socioeconômicos (INESC) in Brazil, and Madani Berkelanjutan in Indonesia. Together, these organisations are conducting country studies to assess the scale and nature of subsidy streams that are harmful to tropical rainforests in the three countries.

The studies aim to identify specific subsidies and incentive structures that contribute to deforestation and forest degradation and to explore opportunities for reform and repurposing. Building on these findings, RFN and its partners are developing a comprehensive strategy for repurposing harmful subsidies towards sustainable and biodiversity-positive practices. The initiative seeks to create practical precedents and policy pathways that can inspire broader subsidy reforms and contribute directly to the implementation of Target 18 at national and global levels.

The side event will consist of three parts. First, an introductory session will highlight the critical importance of Target 18 for the overall implementation of the KMGBF, the role of international multilateral organisations in achieveing subsidy reforms, and underscore the central role of tropical rainforest protection in achieving global biodiversity goals. Second, RFN and its partners will present preliminary findings from the studies in Brazil, Colombia and Indonesia and introduce the emerging strategy for subsidy reform and repurposing. Finally, a multi-stakeholder panel discussion will bring together representatives from civil society and partner organisations to discuss challenges, opportunities and practical pathways for implementing sustainable reforms to rainforest-harmful subsidies.

By increasing awareness of the importance of Target 18 and promoting greater attention to tropical rainforests within biodiversity financing and policy reform, this side event aims to contribute to more ambitious and effective implementation of the KMGBF and to support countries in delivering on their commitments to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.