Earlier this week, the BBC reported on the climate summit’s first major deal “More than 100 world leaders have promised to end and reverse deforestation by 2030″….
However, the reception to this news has been varied. Several commentators point to a similar commitment made in 2014. The ‘New York Declaration on Forests’ aimed to half deforestation by 2020, and halt it by 2030 – and 40 governments eventually signed up. Data published by the UN shows that it made little difference.
Other attendees in Glagow were more optimistic. Boris Johnson heralded the COP26 agreement as a ‘landmark’ deal.
Certainly, the level of participation is greater – more than 130 countries have signed up this time (see below) including Canada, Brazil, Russia, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, UK, USA – in total comprising 90% of global forest cover.
Maybe that’s why Boris was characteristically upbeat.
I was left feeling flat about these pledges and promises. What we need is action right now.
The former president of the Rainforest Alliance, Nigel Sizer, summed it up for me nicely:
“We’re facing a climate emergency so giving ourselves another 10 years to address this problem doesn’t quite seem consistent with that”.
Here is the list (as of yesterday)
- Albania
- Andorra
- Angola
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Australia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Bangladesh
- Belgium
- Belize
- Bhutan
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Botswana
- Brazil
- Brunei Darussalam
- Bulgaria
- Burkina Faso
- Cameroon
- Canada
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Chile
- China
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Côte d’Ivoire
- Croatia
- Cuba
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Dominican Republic
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Ecuador
- Equatorial Guinea
- Estonia
- Eswatini
- European Commission on behalf of the European Union
- Fiji
- Finland
- France
- Gabon
- Georgia
- Germany
- Ghana
- Greece
- Grenada
- Guatemala
- Guinea Bissau
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Indonesia
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Kyrgyzstan
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Liberia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Mali
- Malta
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Niger
- Nigeria
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Pakistan
- Panama
- Papua New Guinea
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Poland
- Portugal
- Republic of the Congo
- Romania
- Russia
- Rwanda
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Samoa
- San Marino
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Senegal
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Somalia
- South Korea
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Suriname
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Tanzania
- Togo
- Tonga
- Turkey
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- United States of America
- Uruguay
- Vanuatu
- Vietnam
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Sources of information
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-59088498
ukcop26.org/glasgow-leaders-declaration-on-forests-and-land-use/
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