COP26 pledge will see nations commit to ending deforestation by 2030

Glasgow — World leaders meeting at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow will on Tuesday issue a multibillion-dollar pledge to end deforestation by 2030, but that date is too distant for campaigners who want action sooner to save the planet's lungs.

According to the British government, which is hosting the summit, the pledge is backed by almost $20 billion in public and private funding and is endorsed by more than 100 leaders representing over 85% of the world's forests, including the Amazon rainforest, Canada's northern boreal forest and the Congo Basin rainforest.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the agreement on deforestation was pivotal to the overarching ambition of limiting temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius.