The climate plans that countries have submitted to the U.N. will do too little to protect the world’s forests and their vast stores of carbon, experts say. Instead, they warn, plans lean heavily on “unrealistic” tree-planting schemes.
Countries have pledged to halt deforestation by 2030, and they are making progress on that goal, curbing emissions from the loss of forests globally. But under national climate plans, countries would still see roughly 10 million acres of forest destroyed yearly at the end of this decade and another 40 million acres degraded by logging, grazing, fires, or other threats, according to the new analysis, which was undertaken by an international group of experts.
At the same time, plans call for planting trees, restoring forests, and other measures that would involve using huge tracts of land to draw down carbon. In total, these measures would require 2.5 billion acres of land, an area larger than China, according to the analysis.
To help curb deforestation, Brazil, host of this year’s U.N. climate negotiations, has announced a plan that will provide up to $4 billion yearly to countries that protect their forests. Authors praised the plan but said it falls short of what is needed to safeguard forests, and said that countries must address the underlying causes of deforestation.
Coauthor Rebecca Ray, of Boston University, said poorer countries turn to commercial logging, mining, and industrial farming “simply to pay for basic necessities.” Authors say rich countries can ease the burden on tropical forests by offering debt relief to poorer countries and by reforming tax and trade rules that favor industries that plunder forests.
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