[ad_1]
Among the nations taking part are Canada, Russia, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, all of which have significant tracts of forest. Brazil in particular has come under criticism for allowing an increase in the deforestation of the Amazon in recent years. The US and China will also be party to the agreement.
The deal is consequential to the climate as forests, when they are logged or degrade, emit carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, accounting for around 11% of the world’s total CO2 emissions.
The leaders will make the announcement during a COP26 session about forests and commit £8.75 billion ($12 billion) of public funds to protection and restoration, alongside £5.3 billion ($7.2 billion) of private investment. CEOs from more than dozens of financial institutions, including Aviva, Schroders and Axa, are also committing to ending investment in activities that lead to deforestation.
“Today, at COP26, leaders have signed a landmark agreement to protect and restore the earth’s forests,” Johnson will say, according to the statement.
“These great teeming ecosystems — these cathedrals of nature – are the lungs of our planet. Forests support communities, livelihoods and food supply, and absorb the carbon we pump into the atmosphere. 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.”
The agreement will likely provide a morale boost at COP26, which got off to shaky start after the G20 leaders’ summit in Rome over the weekend failed to result in an agreement on firm new climate commitments, particularly on when to end the use of coal.
It is also a breakthrough after years of negotiations on how to protect forests. There have been several different schemes to try and curb deforestation, including one that awarded credits to people conserving forests that could be traded on markets. These schemes…
[ad_2]
Source : cnn
