Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration On Forests And Land Use

567

Un Climate Change Conference UK 2021

We, the leaders of the countries identified below:

Emphasise the critical and interdependent roles of forests of all types, biodiversity and sustainable land use in enabling the world to meet its sustainable development goals; to help achieve a balance between anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and removal by sinks; to adapt to climate change; and to maintain other ecosystem services.

Reaffirm our respective commitments, collective and individual, to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, the Convention on Biological  Diversity, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, the Sustainable Development Goals; and other relevant initiatives.

Reaffirm our respective commitments to sustainable land use, and to the conservation, protection, sustainable management and restoration of forests, and other terrestrial  ecosystems.

Recognise that to meet our land use, climate, biodiversity and sustainable development goals, both globally and nationally, will require transformative further action in the  interconnected areas of sustainable production and consumption; infrastructure development; trade; finance and investment; and support for smallholders, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities, who depend on forests for their livelihoods and have a key role in their stewardship.

Highlight the areas of strong progress in recent years and the opportunities before us to accelerate action.

We therefore commit to working collectively to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030 while delivering sustainable development and promoting an inclusive rural transformation.

We will strengthen our shared efforts to:

  1. Conserve forests and other terrestrial ecosystems and accelerate their restoration;
  2. Facilitate trade and development policies, internationally and domestically, that promote sustainable development, and sustainable commodity production and consumption, that work to countries’ mutual benefit, and that do not drive deforestation and land degradation;
  3. Reduce vulnerability, build resilience and enhance rural livelihoods, including through empowering communities, the development of profitable, sustainable agriculture, and recognition of the multiple values of forests, while recognising the rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as local communities, in accordance with relevant national legislation and international instruments, as appropriate;
  4. Implement and, if necessary, redesign agricultural policies and programmes to incentivise sustainable agriculture, promote food security, and benefit the environment;
  5. Reaffirm international financial commitments and significantly increase finance and investment from a wide variety of public and private sources, while also improving its effectiveness and accessibility, to enable sustainable agriculture, sustainable forest management, forest conservation and restoration, and support for Indigenous Peoples and local communities;
  6. Facilitate the alignment of financial flows with international goals to reverse forest loss and degradation, while ensuring robust policies and systems are in place to accelerate the transition to an economy that is resilient and advances forest, sustainable land use, biodiversity and climate goals.

We urge all leaders to join forces in a sustainable land use transition. This is essential to meeting the Paris Agreement goals, including reducing vulnerability to the impacts of  climate change and holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C, noting that the science shows further  acceleration of efforts is needed if we are to collectively keep 1.5°C within reach. Together we can succeed in fighting climate change, delivering resilient and inclusive growth, and  halting and reversing forest loss and land degradation.

1 Albania

2 Andorra

3 Angola

4 Armenia

5 Australia

6 Austria

7 Belgium

8 Belize

9 Bhutan

10 Bolivia

11 Bosnia and Herzegovina

12 Botswana

13 Brazil

14 Bulgaria

15 Cameroon

16 Canada

17 Chile

18 China

19 Colombia

20 Costa Rica

21 Cote D’Ivoire

22 Cyprus

23 Denmark

24 Dominican Republic

25 Democratic Republic of the Congo

26 European Commission on behalf of the European Union

27 Ecuador

28 Estonia

29 Fiji

30 Finland

31 France

32 Gabon

33 Germany

34 Ghana

35 Greece

36 Grenada

37 Guatemala

38 Guinea Bissau

39 Guyana

40 Honduras

41 Iceland

42 Indonesia

43 Ireland

44 Israel

45 Italy

46 Japan

47 Kazakhstan

48 Kenya

49 Kyrgyzstan

50 Latvia

51 Liberia

52 Liechtenstein

53 Lithuania

54 Luxembourg

55 Madagascar

56 Malawi

57 Mali

58 Malta

59 Mauritius

60 Monaco

61 Mongolia

62 Montenegro

63 Morocco

64 Mozambique

65 Nepal

66 Netherlands

67 New Zealand

68 Niger

69 Nigeria

70 North Macedonia

71 Norway

72 Pakistan

73 Panama

74 Papua New Guinea

75 Peru

76 Poland

77 Portugal

78 Republic of Congo

79 Romania

80 Russia

81 Saint Lucia

82 Samoa

83 San Marino

84 Seychelles

85 Sierra Leone

86 Slovakia

87 Slovenia

88 South Korea

89 Spain

90 Sri Lanka

91 Suriname

92 Sweden

93 Switzerland

94 Tanzania

95 Togo

96 Turkey

97 United Arab Emirates

98 Ukraine

99 Uruguay

100 United Kingdom

101 USA

102 Vanuatu

103 Vietnam

104 Zambia

105 Zimbabwe

1st November 2021 (19.00)