The leaders of more than 100 nations yesterday pledged to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030, in a bid to preserve the planet's natural carbon sponges that can slow the rate of global warming.
The Glasgow leaders' declaration on forests and land use, which was announced during the COP26 climate talks in the Scottish city, was signed by the European Union and countries such as Brazil, Indonesia, the United States and Congo. Together, the signatories of the letter account for about 85 per cent of the world's forests.
Said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson during the Forest and Land Use event at COP26: "Forests support communities, livelihoods and food supply, and absorb the carbon we pump into the atmosphere. They are essential to our very survival."
Ms Frances Seymour, a distinguished senior fellow at think-tank World Resources Institute (WRI), said the 2030 target is significant as a reiteration from a new generation of leaders of the commitment made by some 40 countries seven years ago in the New York Declaration on Forests.
The New York Declaration, signed in 2014, had aimed to reduce natural forest loss by half by 2020 and strived to end it by 2030.
But Ms Seymour said that since the declaration is a collective and shared commitment without an embedded accountability mechanism, its significance will lie in how it is translated into specific actions by specific countries.
The Glasgow leaders' declaration is backed by almost US$20 billion (S$27 billion) in funding and outlines six key areas in which the 2030 goal can be achieved, including plans to conserve land-based ecosystems - such as forests - while accelerating their restoration.
The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015 by almost 200 nations, aims to limit planetary heating to 2 deg C - preferably 1.5 deg C - above pre-industrial levels. This will help to reduce the impact of climate change, climate scientists say.
The planetary crisis today is caused by an ever-thickening layer of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which traps heat and throws the Earth's systems out of whack. But ecosystems - such as tropical rainforests and peatlands - have the natural ability to take in planet-warming carbon dioxide through photosynthesis and then convert it to biomass in their trunks, leaves, roots and soil - locking away the carbon from the atmosphere.
Forests absorb around one-third of the global carbon dioxide released from burning fossil fuels each year, said the British host of COP26 in a statement. "But we are losing them at an alarming rate. An area of forest the size of 27 football pitches is lost every minute," it added. The burning of fossil fuels is the primary contributor to the atmospheric blanket, with land use changes and deforestation the second largest contributor.
Professor Koh Lian Pin, who helms the National University of Singapore (NUS) Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions, said the declaration was an important step towards turning off the tap of carbon emissions from the conversion of natural ecosystems to unsustainable land uses.
He added that it was also important that financial benefits trickle down to affected local communities, who are the stewards of the land, through measures that enhance their lives and livelihoods.
Separately, Britain, Norway, Germany, the United States and the Netherlands, in partnership with 17 funders, on Monday pledged to invest US$1.7 billion to help indigenous and local communities protect the biodiverse tropical forests that are vital to protecting the planet from climate change, biodiversity loss and pandemic risk.
Singapore did not sign the Glasgow leaders' declaration on forests and land use. The Straits Times has reached out to the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment for comment.
