by Julie Foster
We’re back from an action-packed week in New York, filled with networking, presentations, and roundtable discussions on climate solutions. If you haven’t attended Climate Week NYC before, you might wonder—why was this event taking over your LinkedIn feed?
This year marked the fifteenth annual Climate Week NYC and it has grown into a citywide event attracting everyone from grassroots activists to CEOs. Its influence continues to expand, and many are beginning to ask: Has Climate Week surpassed COP as the climate event of the year?
It’s a fair question. While COP serves as the primary platform for governments to negotiate international climate policy, it’s often criticized for its inaccessibility and slow progress. In contrast, Climate Week NYC provides a space where implementers, innovators, NGOs, and businesses can engage meaningfully and take action. It’s accessible, action-oriented, and focused on driving real impact.
As international policy efforts struggle to keep pace with the climate crisis, Climate Week NYC has become increasingly relevant for those seeking immediate solutions. We’re eager to see if COP16 and COP29 can build on the momentum of Climate Week and prioritize urgent action.
Forest Restoration Leadership Forum Recap
Nature-based solutions were front and center during Climate Week, with forests taking the spotlight. Forests can provide nearly one third of the emissions reductions needed by 2030 to achieve the Paris Agreement targets. Yet, they remain critically underfunded, receiving only $200 billion globally per year—less than one-third of what’s required. This is happening while $7 trillion in nature-negative finance flows annually through harmful subsidies and investments.
With Climate Week bringing together key players in U.S. forest restoration, the 1t.org US Chapter hosted the second annual Forest Restoration Leadership Forum at the Doris Duke Foundation Treehouse to tackle these challenges and explore collaboration opportunities. Here are some of our key takeaways:
Progress and Opportunities for US Forests
The 2021 REPLANT Act modernized the U.S. Forest Service’s Reforestation Trust Fund by lifting a $30 million cap established in 1980. This cap had prevented the agency from addressing a reforestation backlog of 3.6 million acres (about the area of Connecticut). During one of our high-level dialogues, we convened leading U.S. reforestation partners to explore collaboration and identify opportunities to support the Forest Service in effectively deploying resources for these critical efforts.
U.S. Forest Service leaders, shared that since the Act’s passage, the agency has tackled 15% of this backlog. With increased collaboration and investment in critical inputs like tree seeds and seedlings, the rate of progress is set to accelerate as the agency and its partners collaborate to scale up key inputs such as tree seeds, seedlings, and workforce.
However, there’s still a gap in funding the full cost of restoration. Several of our roundtable participants shared their challenges in working with donors who are focused on “planting” trees, leaving critical activities like seed collection and long-term monitoring underfunded. This is a huge issue as we do not have the seed capacity needed to meet the demands of this decade. We plan to continue our work in identifying opportunities to educate key investors on this challenge and platform innovative solutions to address the problem and focus much needed attention on the great work being done on reforesting public lands to catalyze additional investments and impact.
The Need for Corporate Bravery in an Era of “Greenhushing”
Our discussions, held under Chatham House Rule, revealed that companies are concerned about how new regulations might curtail private sector ambition, while nonprofit attendees worry about funding implications from key partners.
Recent legislation like the EU’s Directive on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition and the SEC’s climate related disclosure rules are increasing scrutiny and transparency requirements for businesses. While this is essential to combat greenwashing, some companies may become more conservative in their ambitions.
We heard a number of great examples of “corporate bravery” in facing these challenges and maintaining bold commitments and an exhortation for more and more companies to get off the sidelines and coupled with emissions reductions make real and strategic investments in nature. As companies try to adapt to a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape, they will likely have different expectations of their conservation and restoration partners. Our goal is to support these efforts and highlight best practices to keep the momentum strong. If you’re a company looking for new partners reach out, and if you’re and NGO with opportunities for investment and ideas for streamlining and advancing partnerships let us know!
Monitoring is Critical, but it’s not Just about Counting Trees
Data was a major theme at Climate Week. Transparent reporting and effective monitoring are critical to driving accountability and building trust in nature-based solutions. We discussed Salesforce’s recent “Tree Audit” conducted by ERM, which emphasized that independent evaluations are vital for adapting strategies and maximizing positive impact.
Their statement on why this matters: “Independent evaluations like the one Salesforce underwent are critical for driving accountability and for adapting reforestation and conservation strategies over time to maximize positive impact. Nature is in constant flux, and trees are part of dynamic ecosystems that are impacted by weather events, animals, and human activities.”
However, the community also raised concerns about the burden on implementation partners to provide complex data while operating within constrained budgets. There’s growing momentum to move beyond the “$1 per tree” funding model, which often pressures implementers to reduce costs, compromising quality, long-term success, and community engagement. While restoration is a cost-effective climate solution, restoration done right is worth the investment.
We know that this movement is about more than counting trees, it’s about complex ecological restoration and aim to continue sharing best practices and lessons learn to help improve and create effective partnerships.
Unlocking Finance for Forests
We’ve seen significant federal investment in forests through initiatives like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and other public financing mechanisms aimed at supporting restoration, conservation, and climate resilience. However, many are wondering how to access this funding and if it can be deployed quickly enough to meet demand. The application processes can be daunting, requiring extensive documentation, legal expertise, and rigorous due diligence. Many developers are also struggling through a disconnect between available funds and the needs of early-stage projects, such as feasibility studies, environmental assessments, and stakeholder engagement.
So, how do we unlock finance for forests? It’s like piecing together a puzzle. Foundational elements—such as early-stage project development, capacity building, and enabling policies—are critical but often the hardest to secure because they lack immediate returns. This is where philanthropy plays a vital role, providing catalytic funding to de-risk these early efforts and attract traditional investors. When these building blocks are in place, other funders feel more confident adding their own pieces to the puzzle.
Catalytic funding and innovative partnerships are essential. The Forest Restoration Leadership Forum highlighted the need for blended finance models to bridge funding gaps and provide the early-stage capital necessary to make projects “investment-ready.” By aligning public sector commitments with private investments and philanthropic support, we can create a strong framework that allows for larger-scale capital flows. This, in turn, drives the full-scale forest restoration and nature-based solutions our planet desperately needs.
The World Economic Forum’s report, “Investing in Natural Capital: Innovations Supporting Much-Needed Financing for Nature,” outlines a framework for mobilizing more investment into natural capital through new financial tools, business models, and technologies. It identifies four key areas for driving investment:
1. Technological Advances: New tools to monitor and manage restoration projects effectively.
2. Innovative Financing Instruments: Including green bonds, blended finance, and sustainability-linked loans.
3. Business Models: Strategies that integrate philanthropy, carbon credits, and impact investing.
4. New Investors: Engaging capital from sectors not traditionally focused on conservation.
With these strategies in place, we can assemble a robust financial model for forest restoration—one that leverages diverse funding sources to support large-scale impact. Together, we can make a lasting difference for our forests and the planet.
