Forests are crucial for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing climate change adaptation. Healthy forests are more resilient to climate impacts. However, forest cover loss continues rapidly, contributing approximately 13 per cent of annual global net carbon emissions, mostly related to tropical deforestation and unsustainable forest management.
Financing forest conservation and restoration is difficult because many forest benefits are not monetized. Financial incentives of activities that drive deforestation often outweigh the incentives for conservation and restoration. In addition, unclear governance of forested lands leads to conflicts or lack of law enforcement to prevent deforestation.
Achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement relies strongly on ending forest destruction and enhancing forest and land carbon sinks. Extensive natural forested areas, with the Amazon being the largest, have important impacts on global weather patterns by acting as vast cooling systems. Forests enhance the climate resilience of people who live in and around them, including indigenous communities.