Representatives from 105 countries have signed the Glasgow declaration on land and land-use at the UNFCCC’s 26th Conference of Parties (CoP) on November 2, 2021. These 105 countries are home to 85 per cent of the world’s forests.
- Brazil and Indonesia-two nations with the world’s largest tropical forests, have also signed the declaration.
- India chose to stay away from the Glasgow declaration on land and land-use as it was not happy with the effort to link infrastructure development and related activities with the conservation of forests in the prepared text, according to an Indian representative.
- The declaration aims to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030. It will cover forests estimated to be over 33.7 million square kilometres.
- The Glasgow declaration comes on the heels of the failed 2014 New York Declaration for Forests– that promised to cut deforestation by 50 per cent by 2020 and end it by 2030. Since then, deforestation has risen, contributing an estimated 23 per cent of total carbon emissions.
- The Glasgow Declaration will be supported by a pledge to provide $12bn of public finance from 12 countries, including the UK, from 2021-2025.
Key commitments in the Declaration include:
- Conserve forests and other terrestrial ecosystems and accelerate their restoration;
- Facilitate trade and development policies, internationally and domestically, that promote sustainable development, and sustainable commodity production and consumption, that work to countries’ mutual benefit, and that do not drive deforestation and land degradation;
- Reduce vulnerability, build resilience and enhance rural livelihoods, including through empowering communities, the development of profitable, sustainable agriculture, and recognition of the multiple values of forests, while recognising the rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as local communities, in accordance with relevant national legislation and international instruments, as appropriate;
- Implement and, if necessary, redesign agricultural policies and programmes to incentivise sustainable agriculture, promote food security, and benefit the environment;
- Reaffirm international financial commitments and significantly increase finance and investment from a wide variety of public and private sources, while also improving its effectiveness and accessibility, to enable sustainable agriculture, sustainable forest management, forest conservation and restoration, and support for Indigenous Peoples and local communities;
- Facilitate the alignment of financial flows with international goals to reverse forest loss and degradation, while ensuring robust policies and systems are in place to accelerate the transition to an economy that is resilient and advances forest, sustainable land use, biodiversity and climate goals.
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