Cop26, Johnson's announcement: "Agreement on deforestation by 2030"

Final day for COP 26, the Glasgow summit which has among the objectives the agreement for zero emissions between the states. A result that at the moment still appears to be far from being achieved, given the disagreements between the various participating countries.

Instead, a joint decision on the end of deforestation by 2030 is expected for today and as announced by the British press.

DEFORESTATION - "We must stop the devastation of the world's forests": this is how British Prime Minister Boris Johnson formalized the announcement of the international commitment to stop the process of deforestation on the planet by 2030, opening the proceedings of the second day of the summit.

Johnson stressed that the declaration was signed by countries that are home to 85% of the world's forests and praised the accession of countries such as Russia, China, Indonesia, Colombia, Congo and - crucially - Brazil. He also evoked "unprecedented" funding. Jair Bolsonaro, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin are among the signatories of the "Glasgow Declaration on Forests and Land".

Some of the funds will go to developing countries to restore damaged land, tackle the plague of forest fires and support indigenous communities. Governments in 28 countries will also work to remove deforestation from the global trade in food and other agricultural products such as palm oil, soybeans and cocoa, among the industries that contribute most to logging. A $ 1.5 billion fund will also be established to protect the world's second largest tropical rainforest in the Congo Basin.

COAL - Meanwhile, in a speech in Corriere della Sera, the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, recalled how a development model based on coal represents "a death sentence" for the planet, and it is therefore appropriate to act and do it right away. His climate plan starts with the diversion of subsidies "from fossil fuels to renewable energy".

We must "tax the pollution, not the people," says Guterres. "We need to put a price on carbon, and direct these sums towards resilient jobs and infrastructure." The industrialized world must "invest at least 100 billion dollars a year in climate finance in favor of developing countries". Individuals too must act with "better and more responsible choices about what they eat and buy and how they travel".

(Unioneonline / vl)