Tuesday, November 02, 2021
By 2030
States want to stop the destruction of forests
All over the world, large areas of forest are lost every day. At the UN climate conference in Glasgow, more than 100 countries promise to act against deforestation and thus protect the “lungs of the planet”. More than 15 billion euros are earmarked for this.
At the world climate summit in Glasgow, more than 100 countries pledged to stop the destruction of forests and other landscapes by 2030. The British government, which chairs the UN conference, announced this late Monday evening. The participating countries, including Germany and the entire EU, represent 85 percent of the world’s forest area, i.e. around 34 million square kilometers.
Also included are the countries with the largest forests of all, i.e. Canada, Russia, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia as well as China, Norway and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to this, around 12 billion US dollars (around 10.3 billion euros) in public funds will be mobilized for the project by 2025. In addition, there are 7.2 billion US dollars in private investments.
Forests are considered the lungs of our planet, they absorb around a third of the CO2 emissions emitted by humans each year. But they are shrinking worryingly, as the message continued: Every minute an area of around 27 football fields is lost. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke of forests as “the cathedrals of nature” and said: “They are essential for our survival.” Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo said his country was blessed with a lot of rainforest, according to the statement. His government pledges to protect them as “natural capital”.
Over the next two weeks, around 200 countries will be fighting in Glasgow to see how the 1.5 degree target agreed in Paris can still be achieved and actually implemented. The states’ previous plans are nowhere near sufficient for this.