Forests globally are under immense pressure. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) 6th Assessment Report finds that forests are under severe threat, while sustainably managed forests play an important role in both reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change.
Forests also provide many other ecosystem goods and services, such as protecting biodiversity and maintaining water supply and soil quality, as well as contributing to the sustainable livelihoods of millions of people around the world.
The risk of wildfires is also increasing, and UNEP this month issued an urgent call to governments to rethink their approach to extreme wildfires.
How the international community is taking action on forests
Last year’s UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow made pivotal progress on the sustainable management and conservation of forests. Over 130 leaders, representing more than 90% of the world’s forests, committed to work together to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030.
World leaders, industry big players, non-governmental groups and community groups joined in pledging steps, including the provision of finance, towards ending global deforestation and forest degradation.
Twelve countries announced in the COP 26 Global Forest Finance pledge to collectively provide US$ 12 billion for forest-related climate finance between 2021 and 2025. These pledges will cater for enhanced collaboration to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030.
In addition, they took forward work on an existing framework known as REDD+, which can play an important role in curbing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation.
REDD+ stands for “Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries” as defined by the Warsaw Framework for REDD+ and emphasized in Article 5 of the Paris Agreement. It is a tool that fosters collaboration with the aim of halting and reversing forest loss in developing countries.
It consists of several building blocks, including capacity-building activities that increase the readiness of countries for REDD+ implementation.
Content retrieved from: https://unfccc.int/news/un-scales-up-climate-action-to-protect-forests.
