The Global Forest Declaration Assessment group has released the "2030 Global Forest Vision: Priority actions for governments in 2025" report. This document aims to guide global efforts to curb large-scale forest loss ahead of the COP30 climate summit in Brazil this November.
The report outlines actions for world leaders to adopt a responsible approach to managing the world's forests. These include integrating forest goals into climate and biodiversity plans, increasing financial support for forests, securing land rights for Indigenous and Afro-descendent peoples, and repurposing harmful subsidies towards sustainable development. Additionally, it emphasizes the need for stronger governance in land use, including legal frameworks and accountability.
Swansea University contributed with scientific expertise to support the document's recommendations. The report draws on evidence from the Forest Pathways Report, developed by Swansea and WWF, which serves as a blueprint for ending global deforestation.
Professor Mary Gagen from Swansea University highlighted the urgency of the matter: "The 2030 Global Forest Vision is a new call to action released by a group of forest-focused civil society and research organizations, like us here at Swansea, which asks governments to work together to halt and reverse global deforestation." She stressed the importance of taking action to deliver on the pledges made at the COP26 meeting in Glasgow in 2021, where 140 world leaders committed to stopping forest loss by 2030.
Professor Gagen noted an alarming statistic: "In 2023 alone, 6.37 million hectares of forests were lost – the equivalent to 9 million football pitches." She warned that the goods imported into the UK also contribute to deforestation in other countries.
She further explained, "It takes an area of land overseas 40 per cent the size of Wales, to grow the products we import to Wales each year – things like cocoa for chocolate, cow grazing for beef, and leather production, palm oil plantations, and products like natural rubber. Much of that land will be tropical rainforest."
The report calls on world leaders to act swiftly to meet the crucial 2030 global goal of halting deforestation, emphasizing that it is an issue of international importance.