Protecting the world’s forests ‘is key to tackling climate change’

PROTECTING AND restoring forests is key to tackling global warming, experts have warned ahead of a major report on curbing climate change.

Scientists and representatives of 195 governments are meeting in South Korea this week to agree a report on the effects of a rise of 1.5C above pre-industrial levels and the action needed to limit global warming to that level.

The report comes after countries committed to keeping global temperature rises to “well below” 2C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit them to 1.5C in the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2015. The tougher 1.5C target was included amid fears from vulnerable countries that higher temperatures would threaten their survival.

It will require drastic cuts to emissions and removal of excess carbon from the atmosphere.

Ahead of the IPCC report, nearly 40 scientists from around the world, including the UK, have set out the reasons why protecting, managing and restoring forests is necessary to curb rising temperatures.

The world’s forests contain more carbon than available fossil fuel deposits, releasing three trillion tonnes of carbon dioxide if destroyed compared to 2.7 trillion tonnes from burning easily exploitable gas, oil and coal reserves.

Recent research shows to have a chance of limiting warming to 1.5C, only 750 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide can be emitted in the coming century, the statement from the experts said.

Forests also remove around a quarter of the carbon dioxide humans add to the atmosphere, while tropical woods cool the air and create the rainfall essential for growing food – making them key to human survival.