The 2024 Forest Declaration Assessment Report

Syllabus: GS3/Biodiversity and Conservation

Context

• The 2024 Forest Declaration Assessment report, “Forests under fire: Tracking progress on 2030 forest goals,” was released.

About

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

Major Findings

• Shortcomings in Meeting Target: The target for last year was to bring global deforestation down to a maximum of 4.4 million hectares (10.9 million acres).
  • The global deforestation remains 45 percent above the levels needed to meet international goals
• Nearly 96 percent of all deforestation occurred in tropical regions, and almost all these areas failed to meet their annual targets
  • Tropical deforestation resulted in the emission of nearly 3.7 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent in 2023.
• Loss of Forest: In 2023, the world lost 6.37 million hectares of forest, this loss was 45 percent higher than the goal to eliminate deforestation by 2030.
  • Primary tropical forests, essential for storing carbon and protecting biodiversity, lost 3.7 million hectares in 2023. 
  • It indicated serious problems in global efforts to stop deforestation and forest damage.
• Forest Damage: Forest damage without complete destruction is 10 times worse than deforestation itself, affecting 62.6 million hectares in 2022.
• Main Drivers: Agriculture, road construction, fires and commercial logging were the main drivers of deforestation across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Positive Progress: Brazil has reduced its deforestation by 9 percent below previous levels, showing that significant progress is possible.
  • Other countries that made progress towards the 2030 deforestation target included Australia, Colombia, Paraguay, Venezuela and Vietnam.
• The report also emphasizes the loss of Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs), where more than 1.4 million hectares of forest were lost in 2023.
  • Protecting these areas is critical for wildlife and Indigenous communities that depend on them.
• Forest fires are a significant threat, mainly due to intentional land clearing for agriculture.
  • Since 2001, 138 million hectares of tree cover have been lost to fires, with about a third of that occurring between 2019 and 2023.
• The report outlined steps for global actors to achieve forest protection goals, which includes:
  • Ensuring adequate funding for forest conservation efforts.
  • Reducing the demand for products that cause deforestation.
  • Recognising the important role of Indigenous and local communities in forest protection.

Way Ahead

• Ultimately, the challenges outlined in the 2024 Forest Declaration Assessment underscore that achieving forest conservation goals and advancing sustainable economic development are not mutually exclusive. 
• But success depends on the willingness of governments, industry, and civil society to prioritize forests and integrate sustainable practices at every level. 
• With just a few years remaining before 2030, the time to act is now.

Source: DTE