One of the most noteworthy pledges to come out of COP26 so far sees over 100 governments, responsible for 86 percent of the world’s forests, committing to end deforestation by 2030. Now, we must immediately take this lofty vision and make it a reality.
COP26 has kicked off in Glasgow with the expected flurry of
eco-commitments and pledges. One of the announcements that has caught many
people’s attention is the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land
Use —
a commitment by more than 100 governments, responsible for 86 percent of the
world’s forests, to end deforestation by 2030. They’ve thrown in $19 billion to
get it rolling. With the world’s forests and climate on the chopping block, is
this announcement a gamechanger for our planet?
Given that forest conservation represents 30 percent of the climate solution, it
is a relief — after years of nature-based
solutions
being relegated to the hinterlands of climate policy — to have forest
conservation back on centre stage as a priority climate strategy. The
Declaration is noteworthy in numerous respects:
-
The Declaration puts forest conservation at the centre of climate efforts —
and having it launched on the second day of COP during the world leaders’
presentations lends it extra heft;
-
Not only are countries that house the world’s largest tracts of intact
forests signatories to the Declaration, the world’s largest forest customer
markets are also on board — and both are on the hook with distinct roles to
play;
-
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86 percent of the world’s forests are covered under this announcement —
including deforestation and forest-degradation bad actors Australia,
Brazil,
Canada,
Indonesia
and
Russia.
Getting all of these countries on board is no small feat in itself.
-
It’s encouraging to see US$19.2 billion in funding to support national and
local governments and Indigenous governments’ ability to participate in
planning and transition to conservation-based economies
-
The Declaration acknowledges the role that Indigenous communities play in
conservation and forest stewardship, and the importance of having them
resourced to participate more centrally in not only preventing deforestation
and unsustainable logging but in advancing resilient conservation.
But 2030 is a long way off; and it is easy to be sceptical of these “get the
glory now, do the work later” announcements. After all, it only takes a moment
for an old-growth tree to fall — and there are a lot of moments between now and
2030. Some might even say that cynicism is justified given previous promises and
disappointments with similar — and ultimately unsuccessful — initiatives such as
the 2014 New York Declaration on
Forests.
And although it is fantastic to see $19 billion committed to support indigenous
and tropical governments (bravo to those responsible for that), since the Paris
COP, an estimated $157 billion has been invested in agribusiness firms linked
to tropical deforestation.
But rather than holding us back, these earlier, unsuccessful efforts provide
valuable lessons for this initiative. Learning from the NY Declaration on
Forests, it will be important to ensure that the Glasgow Declaration’s action
plan:
-
Ensures this commitment includes a halt to degradation of primary forests in
addition to stopping deforestation. Countries such as Canada hide behind
technical definitions of “deforestation” to avoid having to reform their own
unsustainable forest industry, which still largely logs in carbon-rich,
old-growth
forests.
Forest degradation is just as important in terms of carbon emissions. It’s
time to level the playing field between tropical countries and those with
temperate and boreal forests.
-
Sets ambitious, binding, interim milestones for 2024, 2026 & 2028 on both
"consumer" and "producer" countries. There’s a reason that Stalin set
five-year plans — anything longer than that and it loses the urgency of
proximity. Simply put, 2030 is too far away. We need to significantly reduce
the climate load unleashed by logging forests within the next 3-5 years.
Without clear targets and short timelines, we’ll likely get to 2029 and
realize we haven’t done enough, early enough to hit the target.
-
Establishes strong, binding national legislation that makes producing,
sourcing and financing deforestation and forest degradation illegal.
Integrating this into trade agreements and national development plans will
be key to institutionalizing the goal and the necessary changes to national
economies.
-
Prioritizes significantly more public and private funds for the transition
to:
-
Support Indigenous communities’ active participation in governance over
their traditional territories and in development of conservation-based
economies;
-
Support national and regional governments with significant primary
forest cover to build robust conservation-based economies.
-
Prioritizes investment, tax incentives and enabling regulatory conditions to
accelerate the transition of currently forest-dependent supply chains — such
as pulp,
paper,
packaging,
textiles
and agri-businesses — to low-carbon, next-gen solutions. Using low-carbon
feedstocks such as agricultural
residues,
waste
textiles
and food
waste
for pulp and leather products and systematizing circular-economy production
models
addresses economic development and conservation of forests concurrently.
Continued degradation and deforestation of primary forests is akin to the
continued development of coal and other fossil
fuels:
a climate disaster. So, bravo to all involved in negotiating this agreement! The
past 18 months have shown that we can make previously unimaginable changes
happen overnight and mobilize incredible resources for change and recovery ($25
trillion and counting in COVID-19 stimulus to date). Collective action not only
provides hope, it’s the key to keeping us to below 1.5 degrees. Now, to take
this lofty vision and make it a reality.
Published Nov 8, 2021 7am EST / 4am PST / 12pm GMT / 1pm CET
Founder and Executive Director
Nicole Rycroft is founder and executive director of Canopy, a solutions-driven not-for-profit environmental organization dedicated to protecting our forests, species and climate. Canopy collaborates with more than 900 companies to develop innovative solutions, to make their supply chains more sustainable and to help protect our world’s remaining Ancient and Endangered Forests. Nicole is the recipient of the 2020 Climate Breakthrough Award, Meritorious Service Cross of Canada and numerous conservation and publishing industry awards.