Question

To ask the President of COP26, what recent discussions he has had with other signatories of the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use made at UNFCCC COP26 on (a) governance of the Declaration, (b) accountability for implementation, and (c) tracking of progress.

The Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use is an unprecedented commitment from over 140 countries covering over 90% of global forests to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030. It is underpinned by almost $20bn of public and private finance, by commitments to sustainable trade and by support for indigenous peoples’ rights. We are working with other countries that endorsed the Declaration to convert this political commitment into strong action on forests and land use. This will include working through multilateral events in 2022 such as meetings of the G7 and G20, and at COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

All Parties to the Paris Agreement must report on their progress towards its goals via their national Greenhouse Gas Inventories - which cover every emitting sector including forests and land use. In addition, where Parties have opted to include forests and land use in their nationally determined contributions, they will also be obliged to report on these to show progress towards achieving their emission reductions targets. At COP26, as part of the Glasgow Climate Pact, countries agreed to revisit and strengthen their current emissions targets to 2030 in 2022.