Over 100 world leaders committed to reversing deforestation and degradation of land at an event convened by the Prime Minister during the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26).
Backed by almost £14 billion in both public and private funding, the project, known officially as the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forest and Land Use, is expected to be fully engaged by 2030.
The project has been endorsed by countries including Canada, Russia, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with those involved accounting for 85% of the world’s forests (over 13 million square miles).
According to current rates of deforestation, an area of forest the size of 27 football pitches is destroyed every minute, with catastrophic effects on both the greenhouse effect and the planet’s vital biodiversity.
£8.75 billion pounds of public financing from 12 countries will be supporting activities in the developing world, such as wildfire prevention and supporting the rights of indigenous communities. The UK will commit £1.5 billion over a five-year period to support the pledge, including £350 million for forests in Indonesia.
“Forests support communities, livelihoods and food supply, and absorb the carbon we pump into the atmosphere,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said during the event.
“They are essential to our very survival. With today’s unprecedented pledges, we will have a chance to end humanity’s long history as nature’s conqueror, and instead become its custodian.”
President of Colombia Iván Duque echoed these comments. He said: “Colombia is proud to endorse the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use. The Declaration is a landmark commitment from countries to work together to end deforestation and all land degradation within the next decade.
“We will enshrine in law a commitment to net-zero deforestation by 2030, and to protecting 30% of our land and ocean resources by 2030.”
“Now we must all work in partnership with businesses, the finance sector, smallholder farmers, Indigenous Peoples and local communities to create the conditions for forest-positive economies to grow and thrive.”
President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo said: “Indonesia is blessed as the most carbon rich country in the world on vast rainforests, mangroves, oceans and peatlands. We are committed to protecting these critical carbon sinks and our natural capital for future generations.
“We call on all countries to support sustainable development paths that strengthen the livelihoods of communities – especially indigenous, women and smallholders.”
The massive public investment is compounded by a significant slice of newly-mobilised private sector funding – at least £5.3 billion.
As well as the direct support, more than 30 institutions have also committed to eliminating all investment in activities and organizations that are linked to the destruction of forests and land.
Governments representing a major part of trade in commodities that can contribute to deforestation such as palm oil, cocoa, and soya, have also signed a new Forests, Agriculture and Commodity Trade (FACT) agreement, which holds signatories to a common set of standards to deliver sustainable trade in these goods and reduce pressure on forests.
Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Store said: “We must work for an improved global framework for climate investments. To “keep 1.5 degrees alive” we have to halt forest loss this decade. Tropical forest countries need more international support and incentives to transform their land use policies.
“Norway will continue and further develop its International Climate and Forest Initiative at high levels until 2030. I am particularly pleased that we are joining forces to secure Indigenous Peoples’ rights and increase the recognition of their role as forest guardians.”
Representing communities from the rain forests of Africa, Latin America and Indonesia, Tuntiak Katan, Coordinator of the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities, said: “We welcome the announcement at COP of the Joint Statement on Advancing Support for Indigenous Peoples and local communities that has raised to an unprecedented level their visibility as a climate solution.”
“If 80 percent of what is proposed is directed to supporting land rights and the proposals of Indigenous and local communities, we will see a dramatic reversal in the current trend that is destroying our natural resources.
“Protecting our planet’s forests is essential to limiting the effects of climate change. This pledge is only one step, but a necessary one.“
