The Foreign Secretary delivered a speech at the 'World Leaders' Summit on Forests: The Contribution of Forests to Addressing Climate Change' event at COP31 in Antalya on 11 November 2026.
Can I just start by saying what an honour it is to be speaking at President Lula’s COP victory party, which I think we are all enjoying.
Let me start by saying to you, Mr President, that the reason we are celebrating is that your victory was a victory for climate action. Your victory was a victory for forests. Your victory was a victory for hope.
And you taught us all a very, very important lesson because of what happened between the first and second ballots. You did not give up. You did not lose heart. You did not succumb to defeatism. And today, we all salute you.
And the lesson you teach us is we shouldn’t give up on climate or forests either, because we’re at a pivotal moment in the climate fight.
We see the effects all around us. We see the scientific studies saying that we will overshoot 1.5 degrees.
Now, the defeatists will say there is no point in acting. They are wrong. They are wrong because every fraction of a degree we reduce global warming will mean lives saved, nature protected and future generations leading better lives.
And nowhere is that more true than on forests.
Forests are critical natural infrastructure, essential to rainfall, water supplies, food production, protection from extreme weather and, most of all, the people of the forests who are with us today and who I also salute.
First, we must commit to the financing of our forests.
Last year, the TFFF was the initiative of the Brazilian presidency. I can say that some of us from the UK hoped to be able to announce our contribution to the TFFF a year ago, but we didn’t.
But we have a saying in Britain, which is: better late than never.
And so the UK announced in September our intention to invest up to £400 million in the Fund.
And today, I strongly welcome contributions announced by the Netherlands and by leading philanthropists.
And as President Lula said to us last year, this is a very, very important initiative. It’s about investment, not just grants. It is about long-term funds, not short-term initiatives.
The TFFF is an idea whose time has come, an idea that we should look at replicating elsewhere.
And I urge everyone in the room, private sector, government, philanthropists, to get behind the TFFF.
We must also deliver the Forest Finance Roadmap in full, and it was talked about earlier, making sure countries and communities can prosper from protecting forests.
The second point I want to make is that we must support the people who sustain the world’s forests.
Ultimately, forests are protected not by declarations but by people: Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
Recognising this, in Belém last year partners agreed the landmark Land Tenure Commitment.
The UK has now completed its delivery plan in support of that, and I am also delighted that we have exceeded our commitments on the Forest Tenure Pledge and Global Forest Finance Pledge, mobilising over $14 billion.
Finally, in view of what is happening across our world, we must protect forests from the threats they face.
Over 150 million hectares burned globally in the first three months of 2026 alone.
We need to mobilise together as an international community the best expertise to monitor, explain and predict extreme wildfires, so we can take timely action.
Examples such as the State of Wildfires 2026 report, backed and enabled by UK scientific expertise and international collaboration, and the Antalya Action Plan led by Türkiye, Brazil and Korea.
A shift from ad hoc and short-term crisis response to stronger wildfire prevention and preparedness.
Let me just end by thanking Vice President Jagdeo of Guyana.
As we together hand over the co-presidency of the FCLP, we pass the baton to Germany and Costa Rica.
And we do so with confidence, affirming the most important principle of all.
And others have referred to this, in particular my friend, the Prime Minister of Norway: that our fates are connected as a world.
The forests of the Amazon in Brazil, of the Congo Basin, of Southeast Asia, the Highlands of Scotland in the UK, the cloud forests of Costa Rica, the Black Forests in Germany.
That is the principle of our common humanity.
We are all connected. Let us never forget it.