Highlights

This year we focused on expanding the MFF portfolio and pipeline. We added 2 loans to the portfolio: a development contribution to Treevive and a loan to Ecua America Teak that catalysed the same amount from FMO’s own funding. Field visits to challenging MFF target countries fed into the further development of the programme's pipeline and provided insight into elements affecting the forestry sector in these countries. A due diligence trip to Colombia helped better understand how to address and assess historical land tenure challenges in the country.  

Through the UK’s International Forests Unit, FMO was invited to the UN Climate Conference, held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. This year, FMO is proud to have been recognised as a leading DFI in the forestry sector and to have been welcomed at the World Leaders Summit organised by the UK at the COP27. The session gathered major heads of state and governments, such as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, President Akufo-Addo and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who announced their commitments for climate action. All high-level participants agreed on the importance of catalysing private finance into forestry, and 26 countries launched the Forest and Climate Leader’s Partnership. The COP reinforced our confidence in MFF’s added value in helping to develop the sustainable forestry sector through blended finance. At the World Leaders Summit, FMO’s CEO Michael Jongeneel announced that FMO’s forestry portfolio will be increased to up to EUR 1 billion by 2030.

FMO’s partnership with the UK government through MFF inspired FMO to expand its forestry strategy beyond plantation business models, and now includes sustainable forestry management, as well as non-timber forest products and deforestation free commodities.

In December, the MFF team was hosted in London by IFU for the programme’s recurring semi-annual meeting. Various topics were discussed, such as the programme scope and the kick-off of the MFF Community of Best Practice for DFIs on carbon credits integrity. The meeting enabled the exchange of knowledge and the exploration of collaboration opportunities between FMO’s team, UK Ministerial teams and UK Foreign Embassies that were present in the London for their annual Global Gathering.

All-in-all, 2022 was an eventful year for MFF. We look forward to further developing the programme in 2023.