Nations Vow to Not Destroy Any Forests That Still Exist in 2030

Leaders of more than 100 countries have agreed to a date when they’ll get around to stopping the razing the world’s forests. At the COP26 conference in Scotland, 105 nations agreed to a statement vowing to work together in order “to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030.” Unlike many of the planned initiatives at the conference, the so-called Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use was signed by representatives from China and Russia, as well as Brazil, where far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has, in recent years, massively accelerated the deforestation of the Amazon rain forest. The pledge included more than $19.2 billion of public and private funds to help developing countries restore razed land, fight wildfires, and support Indigenous communities. It’s the first major agreement signed at the COP26 conference.