2020 Goal 8 Assessment

The 2020 Goal 8 Assessment highlights a significant gap between the climate mitigation potential of forests and the financial investment they receive, noting that public finance for forests is dwarfed by investments in renewable energy and domestic 'grey' financing for agriculture.

• Public finance for forests is disproportionately low compared to its mitigation potential and other sectors. While the forest sector has the third highest mitigation potential after energy and industry, only USD 20.2 billion in public finance has been committed to deforestation countries since 2010, whereas renewable energy investment has reached approximately USD 2.6 trillion in the same period.
• Domestic public spending in deforestation countries is heavily skewed toward 'grey' financing rather than forest protection. Domestic financing for agriculture and forestry is estimated at USD 135 billion, while domestic financing for REDD+ activities is only USD 10.1 billion.
• There is a widespread lack of deforestation policies among major financial institutions. According to Forest 500, over 86 percent of the 150 financial institutions providing the most finance to commodity companies lack a deforestation policy for the companies they fund.
• Data regarding private finance for forests is insufficient. Estimates for private finance channeled to forests since 2010 are unavailable, and public-private impact investors rarely report the amount of private capital mobilized.

APA

Forest Declaration Assessment (2020). 2020 Goal 8 Assessment. https://forestdeclaration.org/resources/2020-goal-8-assessment/

Chicago

Forest Declaration Assessment. 2020 Goal 8 Assessment. 2020. https://forestdeclaration.org/resources/2020-goal-8-assessment/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Forest Declaration Assessment |title=2020 Goal 8 Assessment |date=2020 |url=https://forestdeclaration.org/resources/2020-goal-8-assessment/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{forestdeclarationassessment20202020, author = {{Forest Declaration Assessment}}, title = {{2020 Goal 8 Assessment}}, institution = {Forest Declaration Assessment}, year = {2020}, url = {https://forestdeclaration.org/resources/2020-goal-8-assessment/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }