Global Crisis Watch 388 & 389 – Green Gold Gone: The Global Risk of Deforestation

Deforestation remains one of the world’s most pressing global risks — a challenge that cuts across environmental, political and economic dimensions. Despite ambitious global pledges to end deforestation and restore degraded forests by 2030, recent data show that the goal remains far from reach. At the 2021 UN Climate Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, more than 140 countries — together representing over 90 percent of the world’s forests — signed the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use, promising to end and reverse forest loss by 2030.

Yet the latest assessments highlight how much work remains. The 2025 COP30 summit, which began on 10 November in Belem, Brazil, and will run for 11 days, has brought this challenge sharply into focus. Brazil is urging countries to deliver on earlier undertakings and mobilize $25 billion, plus $100 billion from global financial markets, for the Tropical Forests Forever Facility — a fund aimed at financing biodiversity conservation and reducing deforestation. UN leaders emphasized that while renewable energy and climate action are advancing, forest protection remains a global priority. COP30 is also the first summit to openly acknowledge the failure to prevent dangerous levels of warming so far, underlining the link between forest loss and accelerating climate change.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the UN body responsible for tracking global forest resources and promoting sustainable land management, forests now cover roughly 4.14 billion hectares — about one-third of the planet’s land surface. The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025 shows that global net forest loss has slowed from 10.7 million hectares in the 1990s to around 4 million hectares annually today, with over half of all forests managed under long-term plans and one-fifth enjoying some form of protection. Yet, the world still loses about 10.9 million hectares of forest every year, mostly in tropical regions, releasing vast amounts of carbon and undermining climate resilience.

There are successes: Brazil’s Amazon Fund has cut deforestation in the Amazon by 50 percent since 2022, and the Cerrado region experienced an 11 percent drop, preventing nearly 734 million tonnes of CO2 emissions. European countries have pledged $2.5 billion to protect the Congo Basin rainforest. Yet challenges remain: Indonesia’s deforestation increased by 54,000 hectares in 2024, and enforcement of the EU’s anti-deforestation law continues to face delays.

COP30 reinforces that protecting the world’s “green gold” is not about pledges alone — it is about implementation. Without urgent, coordinated action and a shift in global funding priorities toward conservation, the 2030 target to end deforestation will remain out of reach. Forests are not just environmental assets; they are a global stabilizer, underpinning biodiversity, climate resilience and human security.

Join us for Global Crisis Watch 388 & 389 to stay informed on the urgent fight to preserve the world’s forests, explore practical solutions and track the latest developments from COP30 that impact this critical mission.

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