An analysis shows that the destruction of global forests increases in 2023 despite 140 countries’ promise to halt deforestation by the end of the decade, reports the Guardian.

It was higher than when world leaders from 140 countries have promised three years ago to end and reverse deforestation.

As the attempts at voluntary cuts on deforestation are not working, a strong regulation and more funding for forest protection are needed, the researchers recommended.   

The rising destruction of the forests puts desires to halt the climate crisis and stem the huge worldwide losses of wildlife even further from reach, warned researchers.

The report put a light on Brazilian Amazon, where new government led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s cut deforestation by 62% in its first year.

“The bottom line is that, globally, deforestation has gotten worse, not better, since the beginning of the decade,” said Ivan Palmegiani, lead author of the report and a climate focus group consultant.

“We’re only six years away from a critical global deadline to put an end to deforestation, and forests continue to be chopped down, degraded, and set aflame at alarming rates,” he said. “Righting the course is possible if all countries make it a priority, and especially if industrialized countries seriously rethink their excessive consumption levels and support forest countries.”

Senior consultant at Climate Focus and co-author of the report Erin D Matson said, “When the right conditions are in place, countries see major progress. If economic or political conditions change, forest loss can come roaring back by next year. We’re seeing this effect in the spiking deforestation in Indonesia and Bolivia. Ultimately, to meet global forest protection targets, we must make forest protection immune to political and economic changes.”

Most countries backed the 2030 zero deforestation pledge at the United Nations’ Cop26 climate summit in 2021. The 2024 forest declaration assessment, produced by a combination of research and civil society organizations, assessed progress towards the goal set in 2021 using a baseline of the average deforestation between 2018 and 2020. It found progress was notably off track, with the level of deforestation in 2023 almost 50% higher than steady progress towards zero would require.

Matson said, “Indonesia’s deforestation alone increased by 57% in one year. This was in large part imputable to surging global demand for things like paper and mined metals like nickel.

“But it is also clear that the government took its foot off the gas. It experienced the sharpest drop in deforestation of any tropical country from 2015-17 and 2020-22, so we have to hope that this setback is only temporary.” In 2023, Indonesia produced half the world’s nickel, a metal used in many green technologies.

“Brazil gives us an example of positive progress [in the Amazon] but deforestation in the Cerrado [tropical savanna] increased by 68% over the year,” she furthered.

The country has also been severely damaged by forest fires that are being made more likely and intense by the climate crisis. During the past five years about 45m ha have burned, finds the report.

Countries that made progress towards the 2030 deforestation target included Australia, Venezuela, Colombia, Paraguay, and Vietnam. Outside the tropics, temperate forests in North America and Latin America recorded the greatest absolute levels of deforestation.

The researchers said funding for protecting forests, strengthening the land rights of Indigenous people and reducing demand for commodities produced via deforestation were needed.

The EU has proposed regulations that would ban the sales of products linked to deforestation, such as coffee, chocolate, leather, furniture, and etc. However, on 3 October, the European Commission proposed a one-year delay “to phase in the system” after protests from countries including Australia, Brazil, Indonesia and Ivory Coast.

Matson said, “This pushback is largely political pressures driven, and it’s a shame. We can’t rely on voluntary efforts as they have made very little progress over the last decade.”

Bd-Pratidin English/ Afsar Munna