World leaders vow to end deforestation, land degradation at COP27

By Yemi Olakitan 

More than140 countries made the historic commitment at COP26 to halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation while simultaneously delivering sustainable development and promoting inclusive rural transformation.

The United Kingdom, which presided over COP26, extended an invitation to the leaders of the world to come together at COP27 to establish a new partnership that will accelerate implementation of this commitment.

At the Conference of the Parties (COP27) and every year through 2030, the new Partnership will highlight global progress by bringing together the efforts of community, industry, and government leaders.

In order to boost efforts to protect, conserve, and restore the world’s forests while simultaneously fostering sustainable development and an inclusive rural transformation, the president of COP26, Alok Sharma, is urging world leaders to join the launch of the Forests and Climate Leaders’ Partnership at COP27. 

Sharma made this request during his speech at the conference. In addition to this, he is strongly encouraging the upcoming COP presidencies to follow the lead of the United Kingdom and keep the forest movement momentum going year after year.

Annual meetings will be held by the participating nations in order to increase their efforts to collaborate in order to maximize the contribution of forests and sustainable land use to achieving global and national climate targets.

At the first-ever gathering of the Forests and Climate Leaders’ Partnership, which will take place in November in Egypt during COP27, member nations hailing from a diverse range of geographical regions, forest areas, and economic and financial hubs will focus their combined support on areas of action that have the potential to be transformative. 

In this context, “cooperation” refers to matters concerning high integrity carbon markets for forests; “development” refers to the creation of robust forest economies that contribute to a net-zero world; “securing and protecting” refers to the applicable forest tenure rights of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities; “expansion” refers to the expansion of efforts to conserve and sustainably manage high integrity forests; and “integrity” refers to the high level of a forest’s natural state.

The members will work closely together with the private sector, civil society, and community leaders to implement and rapidly scale up solutions on deforestation, reforestation, and sustainable forest and land use management. These solutions will take into account each member’s unique national context and priorities, as well as the urgency of the global climate crisis.

These actions are necessary for adapting to the effects of climate change, and they have the potential to deliver up to ten percent of the emission reductions required to fulfil the targets of the Paris Agreement, all while guaranteeing global biodiversity, economic development, and food security.

More than $19.2 billion in public and corporate contributions, in addition to innovative commitments to reform global systems of production, supply chains, finance, and land tenure in favour of forests and communities that are dependent on forests, helped make this possible. 

The Forests and Climate Leaders’ Partnership (FCLP) will be able to provide a way to strengthen cooperation on the implementation of these promises, to scale ambition, and to develop new solutions to challenges that have persisted for a long time. 

By becoming members, countries commit to setting a precedent for the achievement of their national goals and to raising the bar for themselves over the course of the alliance’s existence. In addition, they have decided to work together on initiatives concerning global forests and climate change and to have yearly meetings in order to evaluate their success.

Every member state will make a commitment to taking the lead in at least one of the FCLP’s action areas. These areas of action include: scaling up sustainable land use enterprises, forest-positive economies, and supply chains; supporting Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ initiatives and applicable tenure rights; and mobilizing forest-positive public and private finance.

During the opening session of COP27, the member nations will discuss the main insights, accomplishments, difficulties, and future partnership goals. They will also evaluate the progress that has been accomplished since COP26. At the summit, there will be a public event in which representatives from member countries, as well as industry and community leaders, will demonstrate the most notable examples of achievement and the most ambitious commitments made since the COP26 conference.

Alok Sharma, the current President of COP26, made the following statement: “I am glad to call for this crucial Partnership today.” Forests are an invaluable resource that not only help to maintain sustainable ways of life but also act as the lungs of the globe. 

John Kerry, who serves as the Presidential Special Envoy for Climate Change for the United States, made the following statement:

“We recognize that forests are a critical component of the solutions we must implement if we are to escape the most devastating results of climate change. In order to do this, we must execute the answers as quickly as possible. The FCLP will provide us with a unique opportunity to motivate even more significant action in response to the issue of climate change.’’