Climate Talks and Forests

One of the encouraging elements of the COP talks has been the abundantly clear trend that governments and the private sector are, at least publically, in favor of halting forest loss by 2030. This is essential because trees and forests can capture excess CO2 in the atmosphere. In many ways, ACC has been made worse by deforestation and the removal of these essential carbon sinks. Ending forest loss will require several industries to cooperate. Not only must palm oil or paper companies re-think their operations, agricultural practices in especially the beef industry have to change. This is a huge problem in South America, where forests are cleared en masse to provide grazing land to the detriment of biodiversity. Vague promises of “investing in sustainable products” is not enough.

There is not a universal response by all countries. As we read about previously, some countries like those in SE Asia have adopted a REDD+ strategy to promote sustainable forest management. Particular bright spots were in Africa and Latin America, where some states have committed to preservation of twenty million hectares by 2020. Nearly 20 more countries have committed to invest more in rural development, as most deforestation occurs in rural areas where economic opportunity is limited. Another positive development is the Landscape Restoration project in collaboration with the Bonn Challenge are setting aside five million hectares of forest and are working to preserve another sixty million.

These developments are profoundly positive, and would not have been achieved without passionate, committed activists. However, forests are relatively low-hanging fruit politically and (most) everyone supports forests. The biggest challenge is keeping fossil fuels in the ground, something industry largely opposes.