Russia, Britain, the United States, Germany, Israel and another 100 countries on Tuesday adopted the Glasgow Declaration on Forests and Land Use, Trend reports citing TASS. As follows from the declaration, distributed by the organizers of the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, the participating countries confirmed their commitments to sustainable land use, and to the conservation, protection, sustainable management and restoration of forests, and other terrestrial ecosystems.
The states that supported the declaration said their efforts would proceed along six tracks. They agreed to exert vigorous efforts to accelerate the restoration of forests and develop new trade practices at the national and international levels that would advance resilient development and production. Also, the countries are going to devise and implement incentives in agriculture with due regard for nature conservation and to increase funds invested in forest protection.
The conference's organizers earlier told TASS that the adoption of a declaration on forest protection and land use would be one of the key events at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference. The countries that agreed to endorse the Glasgow declaration account for 85% of the world's forests. Apart from Russia, this list includes Brazil, Britain, Indonesia, China, the United States, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Japan, and countries in Africa, the EU and Oceania.
Russian President Vladimir Putin in a video message to the participants in the conference expressed the certainty that this declaration would "undoubtedly serve to fulfill the objectives of reducing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere set out in the Paris Agreement." He stressed that Russia in its efforts to build a carbon-neutral economy by no later than 2060, was relying, "among other things, on the unique resource of forest ecosystems," for it accounted for "around 20% of the world’s forestland."
The Russian leader said that the authorities were taking fundamental and resolute measures to protect forests, improve forest management, fight illegal logging and forest fires, expand reforestation areas and consistently increase funding for these purposes.