World Leaders Sign Pledge to End Deforestation by 2030

Addis Ababa, November 2, 2021 (FBC) – In the COP26 climate summit’s first major deal, over 100 world leaders have promised to reverse deforestation by 2030,.

Brazil – where stretches of the Amazon rainforest have been cut down – was among the signatories on Tuesday.

The pledge includes about £14bn of public and private funds.

Experts welcomed the move, but warned a previous deal in 2014 had “failed to slow deforestation at all” and commitments needed to be delivered on.

Felling trees contributes to climate change because it depletes forests that absorb vast amounts of the warming gas CO2.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is hosting the global meeting in Glasgow, said “more leaders than ever before” – a total of 110 – had made the “landmark” commitment.

“We have to stop the devastating loss of our forests,” he said – and “end the role of humanity as nature’s conqueror, and instead become nature’s custodian”.

The two-week summit in Glasgow is seen as crucial if climate change is to be brought under control.

The countries who have signed the pledge – including Canada, Brazil, Russia, China, Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the US and the UK- cover around 85% of the world’s forests.

Some of the funding will go to developing countries to restore damaged land, tackle wildfires and support indigenous communities.

More than 30 of the world’s biggest financial companies – Aviva, Schroders and Axa among them- have also promised to end investment in activities linked to deforestation.

And a £1.1bn fund will be established to protect the world’s second largest tropical rainforest – in the Congo Basin.

Source: BBC