Policy paper

World leaders summit on ‘Action on forests and land use’

Updated 15 November 2021

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The COP26 World Leaders Summit ‘Action on Forests and Land Use’ event brought together an unprecedented alliance of governments, companies, financial actors, and non-state leaders to raise ambition on forests and land-use.

World Leaders Summit Action on Forests & Land Use

Political commitment

Over 140 leaders, accounting for more than 90% of the world’s forests, have committed to work together to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030 in the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use.

Map of countries supporting the Glasgow leaders declaration on forest and land use.

The current list of countries that have endorsed the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use is available below. All countries are invited to join this effort and endorse the Declaration.

Mobilisation of finance

12 donor countries pledged to provide $12 billion (£8.75 billion) of public climate finance from 2021 to 2025 to a new Global Forest Finance Pledge. This will support action in developing countries, including restoring degraded land, tackling wildfires and advancing the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

In addition, 12 country and philanthropic donors pledged at least $1.5 billion (£1.1 billion) to protect the forests of the Congo Basin. This is the area home to the second-largest tropical rainforest in the world, which is critically important to global efforts to address climate change as well as to sustainable development in the region.

14 country and philanthropic donors also pledged at least $1.7 billion from 2021 to 2025 to advance Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ forest tenure rights and support their role as guardians of forests and nature.

In addition at least £5.3 billion ($7.2 billion) of private sector funding has been mobilised.

Shifting the financial system

CEOs from more than 30 financial institutions with over $8.7 trillion of global assets have committed to eliminate investment in activities linked to agricultural commodity driven deforestation, alongside the billions of private finance mobilised to support the forest economy through three flagship initiatives.

The Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance (LEAF) Coalition exceeded its target of mobilising $1 billion in public-private commitments. LEAF will provide finance to tropical and subtropical countries that successfully reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation. Private finance will be provided only by companies already committed to deep emissions cuts in their own supply chains, in line with science-based targets. This is expected to become one of the largest ever public-private efforts to protect tropical forests and support sustainable development.

Nine multilateral development banks have also launched a joint statement outlining the actions they will take to mainstream nature into their policies, analysis, assessments, advice, investments and operations, in line with their respective mandates and operating models.

Trade in agricultural commodities

28 governments, representing 75% of global trade in key commodities that can threaten forests, have signed up to a new Forest, Agriculture and Commodity Trade (FACT) Statement. This statement is part of a Roadmap of actions designed to deliver sustainable trade and reduce pressure on forests, including support for smallholder farmers and improving the transparency of supply chains.

In addition, 12 of the largest companies managing over half of global trade in key forest-risk commodities such as palm oil, beef and soy have announced that by COP27 they will lay out a shared roadmap for enhanced supply chain action consistent with a 1.5 degree Celsius pathway.

The outcomes of the event demonstrate how action on forests and land-use can contribute to keeping the 1.5 temperature goal in sight, to supporting sustainable livelihoods, and to meeting shared promises on adaptation and finance.

Countries endorsing the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use

List of countries endorsing the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use as of 15 November 2021:

  1. Albania
  2. Andorra
  3. Angola
  4. Argentina
  5. Armenia
  6. Australia
  7. Austria
  8. Azerbaijan
  9. Bangladesh
  10. Belarus
  11. Belgium
  12. Belize
  13. Bhutan
  14. Bosnia and Herzegovina
  15. Botswana
  16. Brazil
  17. Brunei Darussalam
  18. Bulgaria
  19. Burkina Faso
  20. Cameroon
  21. Canada
  22. Central African Republic
  23. Chad
  24. Chile
  25. China
  26. Colombia
  27. Costa Rica
  28. Côte d’Ivoire
  29. Croatia
  30. Cuba
  31. Cyprus
  32. Czechia
  33. Denmark
  34. Dominican Republic
  35. Democratic Republic of the Congo
  36. Ecuador
  37. El Salvador
  38. Equatorial Guinea
  39. Estonia
  40. Eswatini
  41. European Commission on behalf of the European Union
  42. Fiji
  43. Finland
  44. France
  45. Gabon
  46. Georgia
  47. Germany
  48. Ghana
  49. Greece
  50. Grenada
  51. Guatemala
  52. Guinea Bissau
  53. Guyana
  54. Haiti
  55. Holy See
  56. Honduras
  57. Hungary
  58. Iceland
  59. Indonesia
  60. Ireland
  61. Israel
  62. Italy
  63. Jamaica
  64. Japan
  65. Kazakhstan
  66. Kenya
  67. Kyrgyzstan
  68. Latvia
  69. Lebanon
  70. Liberia
  71. Liechtenstein
  72. Lithuania
  73. Luxembourg
  74. Madagascar
  75. Malawi
  76. Malaysia
  77. Mali
  78. Malta
  79. Mauritius
  80. Mexico
  81. Moldova
  82. Monaco
  83. Mongolia
  84. Montenegro
  85. Morocco
  86. Mozambique
  87. Nepal
  88. Netherlands
  89. New Zealand
  90. Nicaragua
  91. Niger
  92. Nigeria
  93. North Macedonia
  94. Norway
  95. Pakistan
  96. Panama
  97. Papua New Guinea
  98. Paraguay
  99. Peru
  100. Philippines
  101. Poland
  102. Portugal
  103. Republic of the Congo
  104. Romania
  105. Russia
  106. Rwanda
  107. Saint Lucia
  108. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
  109. Samoa
  110. San Marino
  111. Sao Tome and Principe
  112. Senegal
  113. Serbia
  114. Seychelles
  115. Sierra Leone
  116. Singapore
  117. Slovakia
  118. Slovenia
  119. Somalia
  120. South Korea
  121. Spain
  122. Sri Lanka
  123. Suriname
  124. Sweden
  125. Switzerland
  126. Syria
  127. Tanzania
  128. Togo
  129. Tonga
  130. Turkey
  131. Turkmenistan
  132. Uganda
  133. Ukraine
  134. United Arab Emirates
  135. United Kingdom
  136. United States of America
  137. Uruguay
  138. Uzbekistan
  139. Vanuatu
  140. Vietnam
  141. Zambia
  142. Zimbabwe

Watch the event

Hear from some of the World Leader’s who have endorsed the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use.

COP26 World Leaders Summit Forest and Land-Use event on YouTube.

Forest family photo of World Leaders at COP26 at the SEC.

See more photos from the World Leaders Summit event on Flickr.

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