Glasgow: More than 100 world leaders pledged Monday evening to stop and reverse deforestation and land degradation by the end of the decade, backed by $ 19 billion in public and private funds to invest in protection and restoration forests. The joint statement at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow was supported by leaders from countries such as Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which collectively represent 85 percent of the world’s forests. The Glasgow leaders’ declaration on forest and land use will cover forests totaling more than 13 million square miles, according to a statement from the UK Prime Minister’s office on behalf of the leaders.

We will have a chance to end mankind’s long history as conqueror of nature and instead become its guardian, said UK leader Boris Johnson, calling it an unprecedented deal.

A series of additional government and private initiatives were launched on Tuesday to help achieve that goal, including billions in pledges for indigenous forest stewards and sustainable agriculture. Forests absorb about 30 percent of carbon dioxide emissions, according to the nonprofit World Resources Institute. Forests remove emissions from the atmosphere and prevent them from warming the climate. Yet this natural climate buffer is rapidly disappearing.

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The world lost 258,000 square kilometers of forest in 2020, according to WRI’s Deforestation Tracking Initiative, Global Forest Watch. It is an area larger than the United Kingdom.

Monday’s deal significantly expands a similar commitment made by 40 countries under the 2014 New York Declaration on Forests and goes further than ever in defining the resources needed to achieve that goal. Under the deal, 12 countries, including Britain, pledged to provide £ 8.75 billion ($ 12 billion) in public funding between 2021 and 2025 to help developing countries, including in efforts to restore degraded land and fight forest fires. At least an additional £ 5.3 billion would be provided by more than 30 private sector investors, including Aviva, Schroders and AXA. Investors, representing $ 8.7 trillion in assets under management, have also pledged to stop investing in deforestation-related activities by 2025. Five countries, including Britain and the United States, and a group of global charities also pledged on Tuesday to provide $ 1.7 billion in funding. support the conservation of forests by indigenous peoples and strengthen their land rights.

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Conservationists say indigenous communities are the best protectors of the forest, often against violent encroachment by loggers and land grabbers. More than 30 financial institutions with more than $ 8.7 trillion in assets under management also said they would do “their best” to eliminate deforestation linked to the production of livestock, palm oil, soybeans and other crops. of pulp by 2025. COP26 aims to keep alive a global warming cap target of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. Scientists say forests and so-called nature-based solutions will be essential to achieve this goal. Forests have removed around 760 million tonnes of carbon each year since 2011, offsetting around 8% of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels and cement, according to the Biomass Carbon Monitor project supported by data analysis firm Kayrros and French research institutes.

Our biosphere is really helping us at the moment, but there is no guarantee that these processes will continue, said Oliver Phillips, an ecologist at the University of Leeds in the UK.

(Except for the title, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)

NDTV – Dettol have been working for a clean and healthy India since 2014 via The Banega Swachh India initiative, which is led by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the interdependence of humans and the environment, and humans in relation to each other, with a focus on one health, one planet, one future – leaving no one behind. It emphasizes the need to care for and consider the health of all in India – especially vulnerable communities – LGBTQ population, indigenous peoples, different tribes of India, ethnic and linguistic minorities. , people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In the wake of the current Covid-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (The water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as hand washing is one of the ways to prevent infection with coronavirus and other illnesses. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on this topic while emphasizing the importance of nutrition and health care for women and children, to fight malnutrition, mental well-being, personal care, science and health, adolescent health and gender awareness. Along with people’s health, the campaign has recognized the need to take care of the health of the ecosystem as well. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which not only overexploits available resources, but also generates immense pollution through the use and extraction of these resources. The imbalance has also led to immense loss of biodiversity which has caused one of the greatest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity”. The campaign will continue to cover issues such as air pollution, Waste Management, plastic ban, manual sweep and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also advance the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign believes that only a Swachh or a clean India where bathroom are used and without open defecation (ODF) status obtained under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like Diahorea and the country can become a healthy Swasth or India.