World Leaders Pledge to End Deforestation by the Year 2030

At the G20 summit, world leaders came together to discuss climate change and how to reverse its effects. Over 100 countries including China, U.S and Brazil agreed to eliminate deforestation by the year 2030. The countries also pledged to allocate $20 billion towards protecting and conserving forests all over the globe.

The pledge will take into account all countries which account for approximately 85% of forests. Boris Johnson said at the summit, “Protecting our forests is not only the right course of action to tackle climate change but the right course for a prosperous future for us all.”

The deal will help bring together nations from all corners and bridge the gap of economic disparity through a unified consensus. A similar pledge was made in 2014 at the New York Summit which included a number of countries such as China, Russia, Brazil and others.

The newly allocated funds will be used towards preventing deforestation, managing wildfires and tracking other activities such as illegal logging. Researchers have stressed upon the need for forests as they play a pivotal role in reducing carbon monoxide from the atmosphere. 12 countries are expected to fund a portion of the $12 billion finance from 2021 and 2025. $7.2 billion will stem from various private investments including $2 billion pledged by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

However, despite many countries agreeing to the new deforestation pledge, signs of reluctance were obvious from a few. Alison Hoare, senior researcher said, “World leaders’ first set a 2030 goal to end deforestation in 2014, but since then deforestation has accelerated across many countries.”

©Photo: Leonardo Carrato/Bloomberg