Status: 02.11.2021 03:15 a.m.
Every minute an area of forest the size of 27 soccer fields is lost in the world. At the climate conference, more than 100 countries committed to stop deforestation by 2030.
At the world climate summit in Glasgow, more than 100 countries pledged to stop the destruction of forests and other landscapes by 2030. This was stated by the British government, which chairs the UN conference.
The participating countries, including Germany and the entire EU, represent 85 percent of the world’s forest area – around 34 million square kilometers. According to data from the World Resources Institute, these shrank by 258,000 square kilometers in 2020, an area larger than that of the UK.
Also included are the countries with the largest forests in the world: Canada, Russia, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia as well as China, Norway and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Accordingly, around twelve billion US dollars (around 10.3 billion euros) in public money will be mobilized for the project by 2025. In addition, there are 7.2 billion US dollars in private investments.
27 soccer fields per minute
Forests are considered to be the lungs of the planet; they absorb around a third of the CO2 emissions emitted by humans each year. But they are shrinking worryingly, as the message said: Every minute an area of around 27 football fields is lost.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke of forests as “the cathedrals of nature” and declared: “They are essential for our survival.” With the planned adoption of the voluntary commitment to forest protection, mankind has the chance to go from being a “conqueror” to being the guardian of nature, said Johnson.
Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo said his country was blessed with a lot of rainforest, according to the statement. His government pledges to protect them as “natural capital”.
Greenpeace: “Another Decade of Deforestation”
The British government described the project as unprecedented. However, the participants at a UN climate change meeting in New York announced in 2014 that they would halve the deforestation rate by 2020 and stop deforestation by 2030. Nonetheless, deforestation continues unabated on an industrial scale, not least in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil.
The nature conservation organization Greenpeace criticized the initiative: It practically gave the green light “for another decade of deforestation”.