Skepticism is warranted. But billions of dollars have been promised—and new data on carbon emissions provide grounds for hope.
The announcement this week of a multinational commitment to end deforestation by 2030 seems, on the face of it, a cause for celebration. But there are concerns that the declaration may be another empty promise and that, without concrete action, deforestation will continue and even accelerate.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson greeted the pact with predictable enthusiasm. “These great teeming ecosystems—these pillared cathedrals of nature—are the lungs of our planet,” he proclaimed in Glasgow, site of this year’s UN climate summit, COP26, which runs through November 12. “Let’s work together to not just protect the forest but to ensure that forests return.”
It would be of even greater importance given that, according to data announced Thursday by the