Paying out billions isn’t the right answer

HOW gratifying it is to hear that more than 100 countries have signed an agreement that promises to end and reverse deforestation by 2030.

So there are only another nine years to demolish half of what’s left by then – and with the biggest bribe in history!

Such is the corruption which goes on in the ‘rainforest’ countries in Latin America, central Africa and the Far East.

It is hard to contemplate how the rest of the world will ever have the resources to police such an undertaking to ensure that this ever comes to fruition. Let’s not hold our breath on this one, although this would probably have a better effect on not releasing CO2 into the atmosphere.

Trees, particularly hardwoods, are very efficient at absorbing CO2 and releasing oxygen.

However, these hardwood forests have been decimated for years to provide farmland for those who need to grow food for their families, and to supply the ever-increasing Western demands for hardwood timber.

Unfortunately, the money to encourage these farmers to stop their timber harvests will probably

never filter down to those who need it most.

So there’s the rub. In North America, swathes of pine forests are being decimated and turned into pellets to satisfy power stations such as Drax, as they are allegedly less polluting than coal, but we are given to understand these trees are being replaced as fast as they are being cut down.

But it takes over 20 years for these trees to reach maturity, so we will always be playing catch-up.

But will the felled hardwoods ever be replaced? Not on your Nelly! In this country we are urged to plant a tree, highly commendable, to help oxygenation. But deciduous trees lose their leaves between autumn and spring, so they only do half the job of planting evergreens, which are the minority of newly planted trees.

But every little helps! The lungs of the world are being decimated as we speak. The world has all of the questions but this £14 billion bribe, I’m afraid, won’t provide the right answers.

Edward Kynaston Lydney, Gloucestershire