World leaders attending the U.N.”s COP26 climate summit should not just focus on forgoing fossil fuels, but also take on ambitious goals to halt deforestation. By raising finance and rules to increase forest protection, conservationists are urging.
More than 100 world leaders have given their approval for the UN Climate Summit (COP26) in Glasgow next month.
A fundamental aim of the conference is that of shifting financing away from environmental dirty fossil fuels, in particular coal, which account for the lion’s share of harmful emissions.
But green groups say the significance of carbon-retaining forests in stemming global warming is still being overlooked by many nations – particularly when dealing with climate finance – with only limited progress to turn economies into clearing regions.
In 2015, some 195 countries agreed to limit the increase in world average temperature to “significantly less” than 2 degrees Celsius this century and ideally to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
About one-@-@ third of the world’s original rainforest is under total devastation and another third in a degraded condition, says Toerris Jaeger, Secretary-General of the Oslo-based Rainforest Foundation Norway.
Over the last decade, squeezing consumers and environmental groups have led big brands that grow, trade or buy raw materials to pledge to stop deforestation.
Ahead of COP-26, governments and corporations have showed emerging interest in financial assistance to protect nature and forests – and green energy groups expect this to continue.
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