Along with 14 billion in new funding for combating forest loss over the next five years, the declaration on deforestation includes 14 billion.
A soya plantation in the Amazon rainforest Ricardo Beliel/BrazilPhotos/Alamy
In a renewed effort for carbon dioxide reduction, 85 percent of the world's forests have been pledged to end deforestation in nine years. This is in response to the increasing amount of trees being cut, which is overwhelmingly for agricultural purposes.
Over 100 countries and the European Union will issue the Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forests and Land Use on 2 November. It also includes 14 billion in new funding for forest conservation over the next five years. The money comes from 12 countries, including the UK, and private organizations such as the Bezos Earth Fund.
A further initiative will see 30 financial institutions with assets of $8.7 trillion, including the UK-based companies Aviva and Schroders, announce that they will no more invest in activities related to deforestation.
Advertisement
Experts welcome the increased focus on forests and new funding. However, they warn that deforestation will play a key role in achieving the 2030 goal.
Frances Seymour, from the World Resources Institute in Washington DC, states that we cannot achieve climate goals if trees aren't kept standing. She believes it is good that trees were included in the four UK priorities at COP26 along with climate finance and ending fossil fuel use.
The 2030 goal is identical in size to the one set seven years ago by a smaller number of countries. This was known as New York Declaration on Forests. They also set an interim goal to reduce deforestation by half by 2020. This target was missed by a large margin.
The key difference is that the new plan was signed by many countries that were absent last time, including the most deforested. Brazil is the most prominent of these countries, as its deforestation rate has soared under President Jair Bolsonaro. It is important to have all the major players involved, which is a significant step, according to Stephanie Roe from the University of Virginia.
Although 14 billion may seem large, it is still not enough to reach the climate change deforestation targets set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement. To meet these goals, it would require spending between $45 billion and $460 billion per year to restore, enhance, and protect forests. Roe believes that the funding is an important and welcome addition.
Is it possible to stop deforestation by 2030? It is possible, yes. Although it's difficult, it's possible, Seymour says. Political will is the main obstacle in most cases.
She says there are precedents for action. She cites Brazil's example from the 2000s when it used policies to slow down deforestation. There are other reasons to be hopeful, including a growing awareness by governments that trees are not only important for locking away carbon but also for protecting against extreme weather such as soil erosion. She also mentions that satellite monitoring of forest losses is a great help.
The new declaration does not provide any details about how to achieve the goal, such as how countries will pay for the prevention of clearances and how progress will monitored. It is not binding. Seymour says that new funding will not help unless there are simultaneous efforts to reduce agricultural subsidies that fuel much of the logging.
Constance McDermott, University of Oxford, states that we need to be able to see the measures being used to stop forest destruction. She says it is impossible to make bold or extravagant promises without knowing how they will be implemented. She says it is important that the efforts are benefiting local and Indigenous communities, as well as biodiversity, and not consolidating power and money in the hands of a handful of states or corporations.
Globally, there were 10 million hectares of cleared forest between 2015 and 2010. An analysis last year found that the deforestation rate must drop by one million hectares each year to end deforestation in 2030. Roe believes that despite the enormous challenge, we should not be too skeptical about the new initiative. There would be immediate climate benefits if the entire world stopped deforestation.
Register for Today at Cop26, our daily newsletter that covers the important climate summit
