How halting deforestation can help counter the climate crisis

Human activities, like the burning of fossil fuels, are pushing greenhouse gas emissions to record levels, sparking climatic upheaval, including flooding, droughts, and wildfires. These catastrophes affect millions of people and cause trillions of dollars in economic losses each year. 

And they are poised to get worse. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) data shows that based on current national commitments, the planet could warm from 2.5°C to 2.9°C this century, well above the goals of the Paris Agreement and enough to trigger widespread climate chaos.

Cutting emissions quickly by saving and restoring forests is considered vital. A big one. To keep global warming below 1.5°C, a key goal of the Paris Agreement, the world must cut greenhouse gas emissions by 22 gigatonnes annually by 2030. Halting deforestation could reduce emissions by 4 gigatonnes a year, according to the UN-REDD Programme, a partnership between UNEP, the UN Development Programme, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN. Protecting and restoring forests is one of many nature-based solutions that countries can use to limit greenhouse gas emissions. A UNEP report found these strategies could help cut emissions anywhere from 10 gigatonnes to 18 gigatonnes a year by 2050.

No. Driven almost entirely by the expansion of agriculture, deforestation continues at a breakneck pace. The world has lost 420 million hectares of forests since 1990, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization. That is an area about half the size of China. From 2015-2020, the rate of deforestation was 10 million hectares a year, an area about the size of Portugal.

How can national climate plans help counter deforestation?

All 195 signatories of the Paris Agreement climate treaty adopted in 2015 must submit Nationally Determined Contributions. These climate plans outline how countries are going to reduce emissions and can include everything from investments in renewable energy to the promotion of more sustainable farming practices.

Despite the climate-change-fighting ability of forests, only 40 percent of the most deforestation-prone countries have measures to protect forests in their nationally determined contributions, found a recent UN-REDD report.

With a new round of pledges due in 2025, Atallah says this is a “golden opportunity” for policymakers to incorporate concrete targets for protecting and restoring forests. 

How can countries improve plans to halt deforestation?

The first step is to set clearly defined targets for stopping deforestation and restoring forests within nationally determined contributions, says Atallah. The often-complex drivers of deforestation, including resource extraction and the unchecked expansion of agriculture, will require national dialogues and trade-offs.