Belem (Brazil), Nov 19 (PTI): The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Greenpeace on Tuesday urged countries at the UN COP30 Climate Summit to agree on a roadmap to end and reverse deforestation by 2030.
At a joint press conference, WWF International Director General Kirsten Schuijt and Greenpeace Brazil Executive Director Carolina Pasquali said COP30 must shift from “talk to action” and deliver a concrete, time-bound plan for forests.
They said COP30, being held in the heart of the Amazon, should “live up to its full potential” and deliver for communities and nature.
Negotiators from more than 190 countries are attending the annual Conference of Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), being held in Belem in Brazil’s Amazon region from November 10 to 21.
Schuijt said indigenous peoples and local communities were making their voices heard as scientists warn that rainforests like the Amazon are approaching irreversible tipping points.
“The eyes of the world are on COP30 and the Amazon – we must heed this call,” she said.
“There is no credible pathway to meeting the Paris Agreement without ambitious action on forests,” she added, calling the summit a “historic opportunity” to close the ambition and implementation gap.
“Halting and reversing deforestation by 2030 is a deadline we cannot afford to miss,” she said.
The global negotiations are taking place in the heart of the largest tropical rainforest on Earth, just to remind all of what is truly at stake and time is running out, Pasquali said “The time is running out not only for the Amazon and so many forests around the world, but also here at COP30. We cannot leave Belem with symbolic gestures, voluntary commitments or vague promises,” she added.
She stressed that the world needs a concrete and time-bound action plan to end deforestation in all forests by 2030.
“The Global Stocktake at COP28 recognised this goal, but recognition is not action. The world is watching and it’s time to deliver real action now. There is no 1.5 degree census solution without forests and COP30 can still be an historic turning point if we make it happen. It’s time to act,” Pasquali said.
The two officials noted that Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had called for two roadmaps from COP30 – one on transitioning away from fossil fuels and another on forests.
They also highlighted the strong presence of Indigenous peoples and local communities at the summit, demanding their rights and an end to deforestation. PTI TR OZ OZ
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