01.Why focus on forests?
There is NO solution to the climate or biodiversity extinction crises without ending tropical deforestation. Tropical forests:
- Store 250 billion tonnes of carbon,
- Absorb 30% of global anthropogenic emissions,
- Support the livelihoods of over a billion local and Indigenous people
- Contain 50% of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity and carbon stocks.
However, deforestation contributes 13% of global emissions, which is more than any country except for the US and China. Even if all other anthropogenic emissions stopped today, deforestation emissions would take us beyond the limits needed to keep warming below the 1.5 °C target of the Paris Agreement. With enough funding to meaningfully slow and reverse deforestation, forests have the potential to provide a third of the climate solution by 2030.