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UN Report Findings on Deforestation
Context:
A United Nations report released on June 10, 2024, warned that time is running out to protect the world’s forests, as countries that pledged to stop deforestation by 2030 have yet to take the necessary actions.
What is Deforestation?
- Deforestation involves the removal and destruction of forests, converting the land to non-forest use for purposes such as agriculture, urbanisation, mining, or infrastructure development.
- This human-driven activity leads to significant environmental and ecological impacts, including habitat destruction, biodiversity loss, and changes to local climates.
- Currently, forests cover about 31% of Earth’s land surface, but between 15 million to 18 million hectares are destroyed annually.
Urgency to Protect Forests:
- Time is running out to protect the world’s forests.
- Countries that promised to halt deforestation by 2030 have not taken necessary actions.
- United Nations report released on June 10, 2024, issued the warning.
Commitments and Gaps:
- Global leaders committed to halt deforestation and reverse forest loss by 2030 (Forest Declaration Assessment 2023).
- Major gaps in forest protection, management, and restoration noted in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).
- Emissions from deforestation increased since the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use in 2021.
Regional Focus and Exceptions:
- Increase in global deforestation emissions mostly from Latin America and the Caribbean (2019-2022).
- Brazil cited as an exception with a 22% annual decline in deforestation.
About NDC:
NDC Analysis:
- NDC pledges (2017-2023) did not meet global goals to halve and reverse deforestation by 2030.
- Only eight of the 20 countries with the most tropical deforestation set targets to reduce tree cover loss in their NDCs.
- Mexico included an adaptation target to achieve net zero by 2030.
- Bolivia’s target: reduce deforestation by 80% by 2030, half conditional on international support.
- Côte d’Ivoire: unconditional target to reduce deforestation by 70% from 2015 levels by 2030.
- Colombia: reduce deforestation to 50,000 hectares/year by 2030 and use co-operative approaches to reach net zero deforestation.
Issues with NDCs
- Lack of clarity and consistency in targets (area-based, emissions-based, or both).
- Varying levels of detail regarding plans to achieve targets.
- Brazil’s NDC lacks forest-related targets but PPCDAm commits to end deforestation by 2030.
- Indonesia’s NDC lacks specific forest commitments but aims for net zero emissions in forest and land use sectors by 2030.
Emissions and Insufficient Commitments:
- Top 20 countries with highest emissions from tree cover loss emit an average of 5.6 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year from tropical deforestation (2019-2023).
- These emissions are over four and a half times the collective emissions from international aviation and shipping.
Key Recommendations:
- Strengthen, enhance, and align forest-based measures in NDCs with national policies.
- Developed and forest countries should work together to achieve international goals.
- Increase forest carbon prices by $30-50/tonne of CO2 emissions in the carbon market.
- Involve local communities and indigenous people, recognising their forest land and carbon rights.
Successful Measures and Future Milestones:
- Enforcement of existing laws through intensified raids on illegal activities has helped reduce deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.
- COP30 in Brazil next year is a global milestone for forest protection.
- Countries urged to include concrete, measurable forest targets in their revised NDCs for COP30 (NDCs 3.0, extending to 2035).
