FAO calls for preservation of world’s forests

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has called for preservation of the world’s forests.

In its latest  State of the World’s Forests Report 2022, the FAO called for halting of deforestation,  restoring degraded land, sustainably using forests and building green value chains.

“With the world facing multiple crises including, COVID-19, conflicts, climate crisis and biodiversity loss, our forests can help us recover from their impact.

“Forests can help us tackle climate change and biodiversity loss, but only if we step up action to unlock their potential by halting deforestation, restoring degraded land and expanding agroforestry, sustainably using forests and building green value chains,” .

According to the FAO, halting deforestation and maintaining forests could avoid emitting around 3.6 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e) per year between 2020 and 2050, including about 14 percent of what is needed up to 2030 to keep planetary warming below 1.5 °C, while safeguarding more than half the Earth’s terrestrial biodiversity.

It further said that restoring degraded land through afforestation and reforestation could cost-effectively take up to 1.5 GtCO2e per year out of the atmosphere between 2020 and 2050, similar to taking up to 325 million gasoline-powered passenger cars off the road each year.

“Sustainably using forests and building green value chains would help meet future demand for materials – with global consumption of all natural resources expected to more than double from 92 billion tonnes in 2017 to 190 billion tonnes in 2060 – and underpin sustainable economies with greater employment opportunities and more secure livelihoods,” said the FAO.

The FAO, however, lamented that the current investment in forests falls way short of what is required.

According to one estimate, total financing for the forest pathways needs to increase threefold by 2030 and fourfold by 2050 for the world to meet climate, biodiversity and land degradation neutrality targets, with the estimated required finance for forest establishment and management alone amounting to $203 billion per year by 2050.

Source: FAO