World leaders gathered in Glasgow for the COP26 climate summit will issue a multibillion-dollar vow to eliminate deforestation by 2030 on Tuesday, but activists say that date is too far away to save the planet’s lungs.
The commitment is backed by about USD 20 billion in public and private funds. The agreement on deforestation, according to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is critical to the larger goal of limiting temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Brazil and Russia, which have been singled out for growing deforestation in their territories, are among the signatories, along with the United States, China, Australia, and France.
Brazil’s government, which has been criticized for its environmental policies, stated at the summit on Monday that it would cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, up from a prior pledge of 43%. Brazil will also seek to be carbon neutral by 2050, according to Leite.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a target of net-zero emissions by 2070. President Joko Widodo of resource-rich Indonesia said rainforests, mangroves, seas and peatlands were key to restricting climate change. Almost a quarter of all man-made emissions of carbon dioxide can be attributed to land use activity such as logging, farming.