An area of tropical forest the size of England continues to be lost each year. This gives rise to around 17 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, greater than global emissions from transport. Addressing deforestation is as essential as decarbonising electricity or transport if the world is to avoid dangerous climate change. A failure to act on deforestation could double the cost of avoiding dangerous climate change to 2030.
Deforestation is caused by a range of factors, many of which are exacerbated by a growing global population and increasing consumption. Halting deforestation requires support for rainforest nations to help them manage their development so that it does not allow continued deforestation, management of the demand for commodities whose production encourages deforestation, and the introduction of a mechanism to pay developing countries for maintaining and, in due course, recreating their forests.