Recently, the Forest Declaration Assessment 2025’, report was published by Forest Declaration Assessment.

Key Highlights of the Report

Scale of Global Deforestation

• Off-Track to 2030 Target: Countries are 63% behind schedule to meet the zero deforestation goal.
• Forest Loss in 2024: The world lost 8.1 million hectares of forests — equivalent to the area of Austria.
• Tropical Forests Hit Hardest: These accounted for 6.73 million hectares of total loss in 2024.
• Primary Drivers: Expansion for permanent agriculture caused about 86% of global deforestation in the past decade.
• Forest degradation: Tropical moist forests saw 8.8 million hectares of degradation, a 235% deviation from the target
  • Beyond outright forest loss, the report highlights rapid degradation, reducing both forest quality and carbon absorption potential.

Progress on Forest Restoration

• Restoration Pledge: At COP26, countries pledged to restore 30% of degraded ecosystems, including forests.
• Actual Progress: Only 10.6 million hectares are under active restoration, merely 5.4% of reforestation potential.

Financial Imbalance

• Public Finance for Forests: Increased to $5.7 billion (2022–24) from $1.7 billion (2018–20).
• Agricultural Subsidies: At $409 billion annually, they are 70 times larger than forest finance and continue to fuel deforestation.
• Funding Gap: An estimated $117–299 billion is needed annually to meet the 2030 forest goals.
• Financial Institutions’ Lapses: Only 40% of major institutions exposed to deforestation-linked commodities have policies addressing forest risks.

About Forest Declaration Assessment (FDA)

• Nature: Independent civil society–led initiative that tracks global progress toward the 2030 deforestation and restoration goals.
• Origin: Evolved from the New York Declaration on Forests (NYDF) Progress Assessment (2015) and now covers newer pledges like the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration.
• Coordination: Led by Climate Focus in partnership with a global network of NGOs, research institutions, and advocacy organisations.

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About COP 26

• Venue: Held in Glasgow, Scotland from 31 October to 13 November 2021.
• Key Outcome: The Glasgow Climate Pact – a package of decisions aimed at keeping global temperature rise below 1.5 °C.
• Key Targets and Commitments for 2030
  • Coal and Fossil Fuel Transition: For the first time, COP26 explicitly called for a “phase down of unabated coal power”.
  • Methane Reduction: Over 100 countries joined the Global Methane Pledge, committing to reduce methane emissions by at least 30% by 2030 compared to 2020 levels.
  • Deforestation and Land Use: More than 100 world leaders (representing about 85% of global forests) signed the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use.
  • Climate Finance: Developed countries reaffirmed the commitment to mobilize USD 100 billion annually for developing nations.
  • Carbon Markets: Agreement was reached on rules governing international carbon markets (Article 6), ensuring transparency and avoiding double counting.

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