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India, one of the 10 most forest-rich countries of the world, chose to stay away November 2, 2021, as more than 100 world leaders committed to saving the world’s forests at the 26th Conference of Parties (CoP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Glasgow, Scotland.
India apparently took the step as it was not happy with the effort to link infrastructure development and related activities with the conservation of forests in the prepared text, according to an Indian representative.
The text of the final declaration linked transformative action in the related areas of sustainable production and consumption, infrastructure development, trade as well as finance and investment.
The Glasgow Declaration said:
We recognise that to meet our land use, climate, biodiversity and sustainable development goals, both globally and nationally, will require transformative further action in the interconnected areas of sustainable production and consumption, infrastructure development, trade, finance and investment and support for smallholders, indigenous peoples and local communities, who depend on forests for their livelihoods and have a key role in their stewardship.
An Indian representative told this reporter that the linkage proposed between trade, climate change and forest issues was unacceptable to India as it fell under the World Trade Organization.
India is also mulling changes to the existing Forest Conservation Act, 1980 to allow more windows of deforestation for accommodating key projects. It is an effort that might be pushed back once India becomes part of the forest pact as proposed in Glasgow.
On October 2, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change issued a letter. It documented 14 aspects that it sought to change in the key forest legislation, the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.
This law has been instrumental in reducing deforestation as it requires approval from the central government when forests have to be diverted for non-forestry purposes.
The regulatory mechanism of forest clearances allows the ministry to deliberate on whether deforestation should be permitted or not and what the conditions should be if such a permit is granted.
Glaswegian breakthrough
On November 2, leaders committed $19 billion of public and private funds to “halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030”. They represented close to nine-tenth of world forests. The Declaration was hailed as the “biggest step” in protecting global forests.
Countries spanning from Canada and Russia, with their northern boreal or taiga forests to the tropical rainforests of Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo endorsed the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forest and Land Use.
Together, they contain 85 per cent of the world’s forests, an area of over 13 million square miles.
Forests, being the lungs of our planet, absorb around a third of the global carbon dioxide released from burning fossil fuels every year. But the gas is stated to be lost at an alarming rate, with an area of forest equivalent to the size of 27 football pitches getting lost every minute.
“Today, at CoP26, leaders have signed a landmark agreement to protect and restore the earth’s forests,” UK prime minister Boris Johnson said, pointing out their critical role in reducing global climate emission.
“You have to look at the fund commitment structure pledged to understand the importance of the endeavour. There is private funding but public funding dominates. Moreover, there is a definite timeline of funding. The model may become a pioneer in other areas of emission reduction,” a senior official of the UK government, who was linked to the project, said.
Of the approximately $19 billion committed, $12 billion will be public finance, that will be committed by 12 countries including the UK within the time frame of 2021-2025.
The money will support activities in developing countries, including restoring degraded land, tackling wildfires and supporting the rights of indigenous communities.
There will also be $7.2 billion of private sector funding from more than 30 financial institutions.
“Colombia is proud to endorse the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use. The Declaration is a landmark commitment from countries to work together to end deforestation and all land degradation within the next decade. We will enshrine in law, a commitment to net zero deforestation by 2030 and to protecting 30 per cent of our land and ocean resources by 2030,” Colombian President Iván Duque, said.
The UK will commit £1.5bn ($2.4 billion) over five years to support the forests pledge, including support for tropical forests in Indonesia and to protect the Congo Basin.
The area is home to the second-largest tropical rainforest in the world which is threatened by industrial logging, mining and agriculture.
Governments representing 75 per cent of global trade in key commodities that can threaten forests — such as palm oil, cocoa and soya — will also sign up to a new Forests, Agriculture and Commodity Trade (FACT) Statement.
The 28 governments are committing to a common set of actions to deliver sustainable trade and reduce pressure on forests, including support for smallholder farmers and improving the transparency of supply chains.
Currently, almost a quarter (23 per cent) of global emissions come from land use activity, such as logging, deforestation and farming.
Protecting forests and ending damaging land use is one of the most important things the world can do to limit catastrophic global warming, while also protecting the lives and futures of the 1.6 billion people worldwide — nearly 25 per cent of the world’s population — who rely on forests for their livelihoods.
Tuntiak Katan, coordinator of the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities, representing communities from the rain forests of Africa, Latin America and Indonesia, said: “Though we welcome the announcement at CoP; at the same time, we will be looking for concrete evidence of a transformation in the way funds are invested.”