Unlocking forest finance:
How REDD+ investment roundtables are turning interest into action
Momentum for REDD+ investment is being built. As demand for nature-based solutions grows and pressure to reduce emissions intensifies, forest finance is moving from theory toward implementation. Yet while many countries have made strong technical progress, transactions at scale remain limited.
In 2025, the UN-REDD Programme convened a series of REDD+ Investment Opportunities Roundtables in London, Johannesburg, and Seoul to help close this gap. Bringing together governments, investors, technical experts, and carbon market leaders, the roundtables aimed to move beyond expressions of interest and accelerate high-integrity, jurisdictional REDD+ deals.
London Calling
The first dialogue took place in London during Climate Action Week, co-hosted with the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market. Around 60 private sector participants joined governments, development banks, Indigenous Peoples representatives, civil society, and international organizations to examine why transactions remain slow despite rising demand.
The first dialogue took place in London during Climate Action Week, co-hosted with the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market. Around 60 private sector participants joined governments, development banks, Indigenous Peoples representatives, civil society, and international organizations to examine why transactions remain slow despite rising demand.
Discussions highlighted three persistent constraints.
Investors need clear mandates, coordinated institutions, and stable legal frameworks.
including greater certainty on pricing, timelines, and performance conditions
that are transparent, equitable, and trusted by communities.
London Climate Action Week 2025
Investors, brokers and senior government officials converged on global financial center London for the first-ever REDD+ investment roundtable last month, discussing how to close the forest finance gap, high-integrity jurisdictional carbon transactions and the steps needed to unlock the potential of such deals.
Despite these barriers, confidence remained high. Buyers reaffirmed interest in jurisdictional REDD+ credits, while governments presented increasingly detailed investment pipelines. The takeaway was pragmatic: the challenges are well understood and increasingly solvable, provided risk-sharing mechanisms and global frameworks continue to improve.
Africa in Motion
The second roundtable in Johannesburg shifted focus to Africa’s rapidly advancing REDD+ landscape. Governments presented new and emerging jurisdictional programmes designed to deliver emissions reductions at scale, with several countries already accessing, or preparing to access, results-based finance, carbon markets, and blended finance.
Investors and development banks responded positively, highlighting strong potential for blended finance, the importance of long-term offtake agreements, and growing confidence in high-integrity African programmes. A clear signal emerged: as readiness improves, investor’s appetite is expanding alongside it.
Asia's Turning Point
The third dialogue, held in Seoul, showcased how years of technical preparation in Asia are translating into investment readiness. Countries demonstrated progress in forest monitoring systems, safeguards implementation, accounting frameworks, reference levels, and data transparency.
Across sessions, investors emphasized three priorities: transparency through open data and verifiable results; alignment between project-level, jurisdictional, and national systems; and legal certainty defining roles, rights, and transaction conditions. Governments reaffirmed plans to advance jurisdictional programmes, signalling a transition from readiness to implementation.
Across all three regions, a shared message emerged.
National systems are strengthening, governments are presenting clearer investment pipelines, and investors are increasingly aligned on expectations. Buyers consistently emphasized integrity, transparency, legal clarity, and long-term deal structures.
Together, the 2025 roundtables helped translate dialogue into direction, clarifying the reforms and standards needed to unlock jurisdictional REDD+ investment. They brought national ambition and market reality closer, reinforcing confidence that high-integrity forest finance can scale to meet global climate goals.
