World Leaders To End Deforestation

The global COP26 climate summit has already yielded results. More than 100 world leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, China’s Xi Jinping, and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, have committed to end deforestation by 2030. The deal was agreed to on Monday evening. Countries made a number of promises as they pledged to work collectively to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030. These included assurances to facilitate trade and development policies that promoted sustainable development and sustainable commodity production and consumption, as well as a pledge to implement or redesign agricultural policies to incentivize sustainable farming. Financial commitments would also be made to significantly increase investment from both the public and private sectors into areas like sustainable agriculture, forest conservation, and restoration, and support for indigenous communities often directly affected by deforestation in parts of the world. The 105 countries signing up to the agreement include the U.K., Australia, the EU, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Pakistan. India — one of the world’s biggest polluters — was notably absent from the list of countries. Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, pledged on Monday to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, a date 2 decades beyond the target set by COP26 organizers. Brazilian President Bolsonaro, who faced international condemnation over deforestation and fires in the Amazon rainforest in recent years, has pledged to sign the deal.