COP27 SUMMIT Nations band together to keep forest promise

More than 25 countries at the COP27 climate talks yesterday launched a group they said would ensure they hold each other accountable for a pledge to end deforestation by 2030, and announced billions of dollars to finance their efforts.

The first meeting of the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership, chaired by Ghana and the United States, takes place a year after more than 140 leaders promised at COP26 in Britain to end deforestation by the end of the decade.

Progress since has been patchy, with only a few countries instituting more aggressive policies on deforestation and financing.

The new group – which includes Japan, Pakistan, the Republic of Congo, the United Kingdom and others – accounts for roughly 35 percent of the world’s forests and aims to meet twice a year to track progress.

Notable omissions from the group are Brazil with its Amazon rainforest and the Democratic Republic of Congo whose vast forests are home to endangered wildlife including gorillas.

“This partnership is a critical next step to collectively deliver on this promise and help keep the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C alive,” Britain’s Alok Sharma said in a statement.

The statements said that around 22 percent of the $12 billion in public money pledged for forests by 2025, funds committed in Glasgow, had so far been disbursed.

Among the new sources of financing, Germany said it would double its financing for forests to 2 billion euros ($1.97 billion) through 2025.