COP26. World leaders promise to stop deforestation by 2030

The joint declaration will be adopted by more than 100 countries, which contain 85% of the world’s forests, including the northern forests of Canada, the Amazon rainforest and the Congo basin rainforests.

An initiative that will benefit from US $ 19.2 billion in public and private funding. (€ 16.5 billion) is essential to achieve the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. above the pre-industrial averages, said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

“These formidable abundant ecosystems – these cathedrals of nature are the lungs of our planet.”are, according to Boris Johnson, at the center of social life, absorbing most of the carbon emitted into the atmosphere.

Forests are retreating at an “alarming rate” of 27 football stadiums per minute. The prime minister considers this agreement A Historic Agreement to Protect and Restore the World’s Forests.

Boris Johnson stressed that not only countries but also the private sector have joined this commitment. He added that this is an “unprecedented opportunity” for job creation. ” The compromise is classified as “unprecedented”.

The COP26 World Leaders Summit, Action for Forests and Land Use, brought together an unprecedented alliance of governments, business, financial actors and non-state leaders to raise ambitions for forests and land use.

Twelve donor countries are making new commitments for global forestry finance. The aim is to support action in developing countries, including rehabilitating degraded land, combating forest fires and promoting the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities.

Among the signers of the undertaking, Brazil and Russia, countries accused of accelerating deforestation in their territories, as well as the United States, China, Australia and France.

At one of today’s sessions of the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26), directors of more than 30 financial institutions will also commit themselves to no longer investing in deforestation activities.This is stated in the message of Downing Street.

Currently, almost a quarter (23%) of global greenhouse gas emissions are from activities such as agriculture and logging.
Far from the urgency needed
This new commitment echoes the 2014 New York Declaration on Forests, which pledged many countries to halve deforestation by 2020 and end it by 2030.

For nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) like Greenpeace, the 2030 target is too far off in time and thus gives the green light for “another decade of deforestation”.

Experts warn that the previous agreement from 2014 “did not provide for a slowdown” in deforestation.

Welcoming these announcements, Tuntiak Katan of the Amazon Indigenous Organization Coordination Center (Koyka) indicated that how the funds allocated for this purpose will actually be spent will be closely monitored.

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