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Saving tropical forests: Why corporate leadership is key
With finance, regulation and large actors in motion, COP30 is an important moment to strengthen the foundations that keep forests standing.
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A tree adoption site in South Sumatra, Indonesia, where mangrove seedlings have been planted.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Bernard Tan
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Four years ago, at the United Nations’ COP26 international climate summit, Singapore was one of over 140 countries that signed a declaration to end forest loss and degradation by 2030. Now, as we head into another climate conference on Nov 6, a stock-taking shows global deforestation rates have barely shifted since that pledge was made.
The latest count by the Forest Declaration Assessment found that some 8.1 million hectares of forests were lost in 2024, a level of destruction 63 per cent higher than the trajectory needed to halt deforestation by 2030. The global figure includes 6.7 million hectares of tropical primary forests.
