Even a Jair Bolsonaro doesn’t always want to be the villain. On Monday, when heads of state and government from all over the world committed themselves to climate protection in Glasgow, Bolsonaro was still walking in the footsteps of his ancestors in northern Italy. He would rather be made an honorary citizen in their home village than declare war on global warming in Glasgow.
It looks different on Tuesday. “Brazil is part of the solution to meet this global challenge,” says Bolsonaro. His country had previously presented a plan to become climate neutral by 2050. Thanks to some computing tricks, Brazil will not have to cut emissions in the near future. But the most densely forested country also wants to do more against illegal logging – this should end by 2028, two years earlier than previously planned. And that fits at least with the first success story produced by the Glasgow summit: a declaration by heads of state and government on the protection of forests. It is a unique deal, enthuses Great Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Mankind could go from being exploiters to being protectors of the forests.
According to the agreement, deforestation is to be stopped and reversed by 2030. The goal is not entirely new. As early as 2014, at the climate conference in Peru, 14 wooded countries had agreed to meet for the “Lima Challenge”. They wanted to halve the forest losses by 2020 and stop by 2030. At that time they were supported by Germany, Norway and the United Kingdom. With more support, it was already in the agreement at the time, more forest can be protected. But not much happened.
Unlike at the time, large countries such as Brazil, Russia and Indonesia are now also participating – the declaration covers 85 percent of the global forest area, a total of 34 million square kilometers. An area twice the size of Russia. “Never before have so many heads of state and government, from all parts of the world, with all kinds of forests, joined forces,” says Colombian President Iván Duque.
“Signing the statement is the easy part”
More than a hundred countries are behind the agreement, including Germany, the EU, the USA and China. A total of ten billion euros is to flow from twelve countries over the next five years, with a further 6.2 billion euros in private investments. 30 funds and insurers have also joined, they want to withdraw from business at the expense of the forests.
The protection of forest areas has been a sensitive topic at climate conferences for years. Preserving them is extremely important for the climate, but for wooded countries this means foregoing income – especially from using the land for agriculture. They demand financial compensation. In addition, there is illegal logging, which is difficult to control.
“The announcement points in the right direction,” says Susanne Winter, forest expert at the environmental foundation WWF. However, it must be secured quickly with binding agreements. “If that doesn’t succeed, the initiative threatens to fail like others before it.” Kiki Taufik, Greenpeace forest expert in Indonesia, wants to see action first. “If Indonesia is really serious about stopping deforestation,” he says, “Jakarta would first have to abolish a law with which the government has just rolled out the red carpet for industry.” The new regulations encourage investments that environmentalists believe will continue to be very damaging to the rainforests. So Indonesia continues to rely heavily on biofuel made from palm oil, complains Taufik. “That will further increase the need for land for plantations – at the expense of the forest.”
And even UN Secretary General Antonío Guterres is only cautiously pleased. “Signing the statement is the easy part,” he tweeted. “It is essential that it is implemented.”