5 ways to stop deforestation essay

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15 Strategies How to Reduce and Prevent Deforestation

Forests are one of the most important ecosystems on Earth. 80 percent of all terrestrial plants, insects, and animals call forests home. Nearly one third of people in the world depend directly on forests for their livelihoods [1] .

Trees help regulate the climate, filter water through their root system, capture dust particles and pollutants from the air and stabilize soils against erosion. They perform these vital services equally for everyone without taking into account country boundaries or the size of your income.

Every day, we use resources that forests provide to us, such as timber, firewood, medicinal and edible plants. Yet if we continue to lose our forests at the current rate, in 80 years from now there will be no forest left on our “green” planet [2] .

Deforestation is happening everywhere on the planet for many different reasons that vary from region to region. Vast areas of rainforests in a number of tropical countries, including Indonesia, Brazil, and Malaysia, have been destroyed to make way for palm oil, soy plantations and cattle ranches. The increasing global demand for wood products threatens many ancient forests around the world, whether it is for paper products, furniture or fuel.

Ending deforestation is the best chance we have to stabilize our climate, save wildlife species and protect our well-being. Protecting the forest is our mutual responsibility, no matter how far away we live from the nearest one. Adopt some of these strategies to help prevent the loss of more trees.

The death of the forest is the end of our life. — Dorothy Stang

What can we do about deforestation?

#1 plant a tree.

The most straightforward personal strategy to fight against deforestation is to plant a tree. Planting a tree could be considered a lifelong investment into the environment and your good mental health.

The cutting down of trees causes billions of tons of carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) to be released into the air. By planting trees, you are helping to combat global warming because trees absorb carbon dioxide. You are also helping to reduce run off water from the hills. Tree roots prevent landslides and rock slides that sometimes can harm animals, people or damage buildings. Planting and caring for trees is essential for the overall health and quality of life of the community.

Trees are known for their mind soothing and healing properties. Just walking through a forest and looking at the trees calms our mind, alleviates worries and helps tired eyes recover from strain.

You can start by planting one tree, or two, or you can even plant a whole forest .

Have you heard the story of Jadav Payeng from Majuli Island, India?

The ‘Forest Man of India,’ as Jadav was titled by the country’s former president, has planted a whole forest with his own hands – one tree a day for over 40 years. The resulting 1,400 acres of forest inhabited by rhinos, tigers and elephants are astonishing. Trees also protect the island community from seasonal flooding and land erosion. So, this man has created a whole ecosystem from scratch, sustaining many lives through his consistent effort.

Watch his full story in this video.

Jadav’s story is inspiring, but it’s good to know that he is not the only one . For example, Antonio Vincente has replanted 50,000 trees on his 77 acres of land in the Amazon rainforest. Similarly, Nkomo Sikenala is striving to encourage families in Malawi to plant trees around their houses by providing them tree seedlings at reduced cost.

Join these inspiring people and start writing your own story of a life-giver. Plant a tree today.

#2 Use less paper

Two million trees are cut every day just to supply the paper demand of the United States.

Globally, 40 percent of all timber is used to make paper products, and the demand for paper increases by two to three percent every year [3] . This means that the paper industry is still consuming more and more trees.

Since the industry has such a high need for wood, it should come as no surprise that some part of the timber originates from illegal logging .

By printing out every email and wasting paper, you are unwittingly spinning the wheel of illegal forest destruction. Reduce your paper use when you can. This way, you will decrease your contribution to the loss of forests.

#3 Recycle paper and cardboard

Did you know that one ton (2,000 pounds) of paper put to recycle prevents the cutting of 17 trees? These 17 trees then sequester around 250 pounds of carbon dioxide from the air every single year [10] .

If just 10 percent of all the paper used by the average American in one year were recycled, 25 million trees would be saved [11] . That makes 367 million pounds of carbon dioxide absorbed by these trees in one year.

Imagine how many trees you can save and how much good they perform for the quality of our lives by recycling all your paper.

#4 Use recycled products

You may have noticed a little label “made from recycled paper” on your new notebook. The same label can be found on many other daily use items like books, paper bags, egg packaging and even toilet paper.

By choosing items made from recycled paper, you make a conscious effort to lower the demand for more timber .

Besides decreasing the need to cut more trees, your purchase is also supporting paper recycling facilities and reducing the amount of waste entering landfills. Therefore, try to purchase your next notebook made from recycled paper and the environment will be very thankful.

The same rule goes for furniture shopping. When buying a new piece of furniture, try to look first for already used pieces. You can often find real treasures for almost no cost. All they need is just a little bit of refurbishing. But this way you can obtain truly unique and personalized pieces for your interior.

For example, the wooden table on which my computer rests when writing this article is bought from a lady who had used it in her office for over 30 years. Few months ago, it has become a centrepiece of our Greentumble office and will remain so for many more years to come 😊.

#5 Buy only sustainable wood products

As a consumer, you can help reduce the demand for more logging (especially illegal logging) by ensuring that you only purchase products which are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) . The FSC is currently the best global standard in forest management, and provides a system for interested parties to work towards responsible forest management.

By purchasing FSC certified products, you are doing two important things:

• You are ensuring that you aren’t supporting unsustainable or illegal logging,
• You are also supporting companies who strive to produce wood sustainably and respect the rights of their workers and indigenous peoples.

#6 Don’t buy products containing palm oil

While a small amount of palm oil may be sustainably produced, the majority comes from recently cleared land. Palm oil production has become one of the main causes of tropical rainforest destruction around the world today.

Did you know that palm oil is found in many of the products you buy from the supermarket?

A large percentage of the world’s palm oil production comes from Indonesia and Malaysia, where the virgin rainforest is being cleared at an alarming rate of 2.4 million acres a year to make way for new plantations.

Avoiding products containing palm oil might not be easy, because it can be disguised in many different forms in numerous beauty products and food. If you cannot drop some of your favorite products with palm oil entirely, look at least for an alternative that carries a sustainable palm oil certification.

To date, the most rigorous certification process comes from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) , where at least 95% of the palm oil is certified in sustainable practices throughout the supply chain [5] .

#7 Reduce meat consumption

To produce the same amount of protein from animal agriculture requires much larger areas of land compared to plant-based farming. For example, nearly one third of the ice-free surface of the planet is converted into pasture for our domestic animals and 30 percent of available arable land is used to grow livestock feed rather than food for our direct consumption [6] .

The global demand for meat keeps constantly rising, but our space to rear livestock does not. That is why animal farming has become one of the leading causes of deforestation in Amazon. Around 70 percent of the Amazon rainforest clearing is done to make way for cattle ranches [7] .

If you choose to reduce the amount of meat you eat, you will lower the global demand for meat and help prevent further destruction of forests to make way for more livestock. Start slowly by replacing one portion of animal protein a week with a plant-based protein like beans.

After all, periods of not eating meat have been practiced by our ancestors for thousands of years – be it because of the meat shortage or religious fasting. In a traditional perception, periods of no meat eating have always been connected with the complete purification of the organism.

#8 Do not burn firewood excessively

More than two billion people around the world rely only on firewood to cook and heat their homes [9] . Unfortunately, this often happens in poor areas where already vulnerable forests near villages and towns are cut for fuel well before they can regenerate. Such mismanagement slowly leads to their total disappearance.

For example: The Batán Grande forest in Lambayeque on the north coast of Peru has been declared a nature reserve. One of the key species of the reserve is a tree called mesquite. But despite being protected, more than 2,000 ha of mesquite woodlands are lost every year due to poverty of local people, who fell the trees and burn them at home anyway [8] .

Global forests suffer already a great deal of damage from our excessive consumption, when you want to make a fire in your fireplace, make sure you burn wood from sustainably managed forests that have enough time to naturally regenerate.

#9 Practice eco-forestry

Eco-forestry is a restorative method of forest management, which is not based on economic productivity. In this practice, certain trees are selectively harvested while causing minimal damage to the rest of the forest.

The long-term aim of this method is to systematically fell mature trees, while leaving the forest ecosystem relatively unaffected.

If you own a piece of forest, follow these principles for they will pay you back in the long run more than the profit focused short-term forestry.

# 10 Raise awareness

Major environmental problems such as deforestation often continue to occur because of a lack of awareness and knowledge about the problem.

By educating people about the effects of their actions, such as palm oil consumption, the amount of deforestation can be reduced. Tell your friends and family about steps they can take to reduce global deforestation or show them this article 😊.

Better awareness and education is important even in the case of farmers. Education of local farmers about optimizing their land management will ensure that less forested areas need to be cleared for farming. After all, farmers are the stewards of our lands.

#11 Respect the rights of indigenous people

Although this isn’t an issue which is well publicized or widely realized, deforestation destroys the lives of millions of indigenous people. In many remote areas, large international corporations under the cover of corrupt governments intentionally violate the rights of local communities.

The best example of such a mistreatment and disrespect are happening in the Amazon with cattle ranching, or in southeast Asia with the spread of palm oil plantations, resulting often in conflicts and even physical attacks against native people.

But when indigenous people are given equal rights and their traditional lands are respected, the incidence of (illegal) deforestation decreases, as they are able to legally fight for protection of their forests.

For example, Greenpeace published an article about the Cree Nation of Waswanipi land fighting against the large-scale exploitation of the boreal forest in Quebec, Canada. Despite facing enormous pressure from logging companies, the Cree have so far stood their ground and made sure that their pristine forests and cultural heritage remains untouched for future generations.

Respect the rights of indigenous people, help them gain the equal rights and support them when you can.

#12 Support organizations that fight deforestation

Numerous international and locally-focused organizations strive to protect forests from deforestation and apply sustainable forestry practices. Examples of some you may have heard of are:

• World Wildlife Fund
• Rainforest Action Network
• Rainforest Alliance
• Conservation International
• Amazon Watch
• Arbor Day Foundation and many more.

 You can support their efforts by visiting their websites, making donations, or perhaps even participating in their volunteering programs.

#13 Join a community forestry project

In 2016, tens of thousands of people in Bhutan have planted 108,000 trees in honor of the birth of the country’s new prince. What a wonderful gift to the future ruler, right?

But the message the country has sent to the world had a deeper meaning. Through this act, Bhutan has demonstrated the indispensable power of community in managing natural resources. And community forestry is based exactly on that!

Community forestry is carried out by local residents, volunteers, and schools with the support of the government. This forestry technique involves tree planting, timber harvesting, cleaning, and forest conservation. Through the active involvement in the management of forests, local people become much more aware of all the benefits intact forests provide for them on a daily basis.

Let’s look back at Bhutan’s example. According to FAO report , 1,664 rural households take care of nearly 3,000 hectares of community forests. Since the program was adopted in 2000, it has improved livelihoods of participating rural communities by:

• strengthening their social bonds,
• regenerating degraded lands,
• purifying and securing water supply,
• providing communities with cheap and local source of fuel.

 If you have a chance and time, join a local community forestry project. You may get far more benefits from simply being outdoors with trees and soil than you could ever get from online messaging with your friends.

#14 Help restore degraded forests

Restoration of degraded forests is a challenging task that takes decades, and requires careful planning and monitoring. It is not easy, but it is necessary if we do not want to lose all our forests. What is wonderful about forest restoration is the ecosystem’s capacity to perfectly recover and give us a new chance to start once again.

For example: In just 50 years a part of a long lost tropical rainforest in Costa Rica was successfully revived [12] . Similarly successful was South Korea’s reforestation program that has managed to nearly double the country’s forest cover from 35 to 64 percent since 1950s [13] .

Non-profit organizations such as The Sierra Club are working throughout the world to restore degraded forests and return them to their former glory. While this doesn’t reduce deforestation directly, it can offset many negative impacts of deforestation on a global scale. Look for such organizations in your area or in the area of your interest and support their activities if you can.

Their work of reversing deforestation is precious for future generations.

#15 Fight governmental corruption

Corrupt governments are often payed off by illegal logging companies to ignore their activities. Do not support corrupt politicians and systems. Reduction of corruption will go a long way towards reducing deforestation overall.

In many poorer countries, the lack of police presence and law enforcement means that illegal deforestation often goes unpunished and unnoticed for many years, even though it is destroying the country’s economy and resource wealth.

For example: 70 percent of Indonesia’s timber exports come from illegal logging. Besides leaving behind extensive damage to the rainforest, the country is also losing around US$3.7 billion every year in lost revenue [15] . Thus, the illegal logging does more harm than good to the country.

Report illegal logging

Did you know that in some countries are available mobile applications for people like you and me to verify and report illegal logging?

For example, Romania has launched an app called “Inspectorul Padurii.” The app enables users to enter a registration number of a logging truck to check if the vehicle has official permission to carry wood. If the number is not in the database, the load is illegal and the user should notify the police.

Global Forest Watch has developed an app called the Forest Watcher , which monitors areas with intact and protected forests. The app notifies you about the closest forest clearing and allows you to even directly upload pictures of deforested areas you encounter. In Uganda, the app is used by rangers and private forest owners to detect illegal logging and serves as an evidence during offenders’ prosecution.

If you want to help protect forests in your country, give a try to the Forest Watcher or check on internet if you cannot find a similar app developed directly for your area. The use of the modern technology and gadgets could be a possible solution of illegal logging which is one way to limit deforestation.

Where is deforestation happening?

To certain extent, deforestation happens everywhere in the world and has been happening even throughout our history. Within the limits of sustainability, forests have incredible capacity to recover and can be logged for centuries without getting damaged.

The problem comes when our consumption exceeds the natural ability of forests to regenerate, and when we start to overexploit this resource on a large-scale. Unfortunately, this is exactly what is currently happening in many tropical countries that are homes to unique rainforests .

According to a 2017 study of the world’s deforestation hot spots, Brazil, Indonesia and Democratic Republic of Congo are countries with the highest absolute forest loss in the world.

In Brazil, forests are cleared to make space for agriculture. In Indonesia it is for the palm oil and paper industry. And in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the main reason is extensive tree felling for fuel and farm land around rapidly growing cities.

But we do not have to go deep into the lush rainforest to witness sad effects of deforestation. Greentumble has written even about the spread of illegal deforestation in Romania due to the corrupt government, or total destruction of forests in Ukraine for the amber mining , and reported on the scale of deforestation in the United States as well.

What is being done about deforestation?

Through the amendment of the Lacey Act in May 2008, the United States became the first country to ban the import and sale of illegally-sourced wood.

According to the Illegal Logging Portal, the implementation of this legislation has delivered some positive results. Firstly, in assuring consumers that products they buy are legally sourced (although this does not necessarily mean, they come from sustainably managed forests). Secondly, by closing down a large market for illegal loggers, and therefore restricting their chances of making profit [16] .

The European Union has implemented a similar law called Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade. Besides banning the import of illegal timber to the EU, this program also strives to help the Government of Indonesia to tackle the illegal logging on their territory [17] .

Australia has jumped on the bandwagon when the country introduced the Illegal Logging Prohibition Bill in 2011, shrinking even more the market for illegally sourced wood, and thus lowering the damaging deforestation throughout the world [18] .

But despite these efforts, tackling the deforestation globally will require much more initiative and international cooperation of governments, corporations and even consumers like you and me.

So, this brings up a question: how can we control deforestation then?

According to the Nature Conservancy , a promotion of sustainable forest management takes place on four important levels:

• Governments: Governments must enforce incentives to support legal and sustainable forest management and trade system.
• Land owners and managers: Forest owners must follow the legal principles of the sustainable forest management.
• Corporations and investors: Corporations must verify and buy only legally and sustainably sourced timber. Their investments have the ability to revert forest destruction and encourage sustainable forestry in developing countries through the establishment of long-term cooperation with forest owners.
• Consumers: Consumers must make responsible choices when buying products. By picking only sustainably produced items, you are pushing corporations to put emphasis on the sustainable sourcing of their products.

As you can see, the way to tackle deforestation is complex and intertwined through the daily actions of all of us. No matter what your profession is or how far you live from the forest, every decision you make affects how many trees will be lost next year in the world’s tropical rainforests or vast boreal forests of the north.

Be aware of the footprint you are leaving behind your lifestyle, for animals on the edge of extinction like Orangutans or Sumatran tigers are losing their forest home every minute now.

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About greentumble.

Greentumble was founded in the summer of 2015 by us, Sara and Ovi . We are a couple of environmentalists who seek inspiration for life in simple values based on our love for nature. Our goal is to inspire people to change their attitudes and behaviors toward a more sustainable life. Read more about us .

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5 Ways to Stop Deforestation

• University of Strathclyde
• Ithaca College

Treehugger / Alexandra Cristina Nakamura

• Conservation

Trees are absolutely vital to life here on Earth, but they are also being destroyed at an alarming rate. So many of the choices we make throughout the day when we're shopping, eating, or even driving, are powered by deforestation. Trees are cut and burned down for a number of reasons. Forests are logged to supply timber for wood and paper products, and to clear land for crops, cattle, and housing. Other causes of deforestation include mining and oil exploitation, urbanization, acid rain and wildfires.

Ten million hectares of forestland are lost annually around the globe. This is responsible for 20% of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. Deforestation also contributes to air and water pollution, a loss of biodiversity, erosion, and climatic disruption.

So what can you do about deforestation?

One easy way to combat deforestation is to plant a tree. But you can take it one step further by making sure the choices you make at home, at the store, at work, and on the menu don’t contribute to the problem. Here’s what you can do about deforestation.

Plant a tree.

Go paperless., recycle and buy recycled products., look for forest stewardship council (fsc) certification on wood and wood products., eat vegetarian meals as often as possible..

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How Can We Stop Deforestation?

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The World Counts • Impact through Awareness

The world counts impact through awareness.

7,558,448.11

Hectares of forests cut down or burned

Globally, this year

One football field of forest gone every second 

Since 2016, 28 million hectares of forest have been cut down every year on average. That’s one football field of forest lost every SECOND of every day, year in and year out. 

From 2001 to 2018, a forest area larger than India was lost worldwide (3,610,000 square kilometers). The loss is equivalent to a 9 % reduction in global tree cover since 2000.

Why deforestation? Our everyday products

The main drivers for the loss of forests are production of timber and the clearing of land for cattle, soy, and palm oil production. 

“The main reason tropical forests are disappearing is not a mystery – vast areas continue to be cleared for soy, beef, palm oil, timber, and other globally traded commodities.''

- Frances Seymour, the World Resources Institute.

The Trees have no Tongues…

We’ve heard about how we’re losing vast tracts of forests each year – for many reasons. We’ve also learned about the negative effects. Trees are a very important part of our biodiversity. It is vital to life on Earth. So how come we’re killing them? How can we stop deforestation?

Tropical rainforests have more than 210 gigatons of carbon stored within its trees. When we cut them now, not only are we reducing our supplier of oxygen, we are releasing all that carbon in our atmosphere.

To date, more than 4.6 million hectares of forests have been cut down or burned – to supply our ever increasing demand for wood and land.

What is the Solution to Deforestation?

Deforestation is one of the most pressing environmental issues we face today, with vast tracts of forests disappearing at an alarming rate. It not only leads to the loss of habitat for countless species but also accelerates climate change due to the significant amounts of carbon dioxide stored in these ecosystems. 

However, it's not an unsolvable problem. Each one of us can contribute to the solution. Below we have collected 15 practical ways that you can help stop deforestation and promote a more sustainable relationship with our planet's precious forests.

15 Practical Ways to Stop Deforestation

You can contribute to the efforts against deforestation by doing these easy steps:

1. Plant More Trees Engage in tree-planting initiatives in your community or through global organizations.

2. Go Paperless Reduce paper consumption by going digital at home and in the office. When you do need to print, use both sides of the paper.

3. Support Responsible Companies Choose to support companies that are committed to reducing deforestation and use sustainable practices.

4. Buy Certified Wood Products Opt for wood or paper products that are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or similar organizations.

5. Buy and Use Responsibly Consider your purchases carefully. Buy only what you need, and prioritize items with less packaging or reusable containers.

6. Avoid Palm Oil Palm oil production contributes significantly to deforestation. Check labels and avoid products containing palm oil where possible.

7. Recycle and Buy Recycled Products Support the recycling economy by buying recycled products and recycling them again after use.

8. Educate Others Raise awareness about deforestation in your social circle and community. The more people know, the more they can help.

9. Support Sustainable Agriculture Buy from local farmers who practice sustainable agriculture, helping to reduce the demand for deforested land.

10. Advocate for Forest Protection Policies Support policies and politicians that prioritize forest conservation and responsible land use.

11. Support Indigenous Rights Support Indigenous communities who often are excellent stewards of the forests they inhabit.

12. Offset Your Carbon Footprint Consider supporting carbon offset programs that protect existing forests or plant new trees.

13. Reduce Meat Consumption Livestock farming is a major cause of deforestation. Consider reducing your meat intake or choose products from sustainable farms.

14. Use Renewable Energy Using renewable energy reduces the need for deforestation caused by mining and drilling.

15. Volunteer or Donate Consider donating your time or money to organizations that work to prevent deforestation.

Remember, every action counts. By making informed choices, we can contribute to preserving our forests and securing the future of our planet. And remember… every product that is made out of trees is Recyclable. So practice recycling diligently.

Your power as a consumer is vital to stopping deforestation. Just like any business, if there’s no demand the supply will be lessened. Fortunately, there are environmentally and forest friendly businesses that are helping to stop deforestation. They need your support. Let’s encourage their efforts by patronizing their products.

113,417,257

Tons of paper produced

In the world, this year

75 y 266 d 08 h 44 m 58 s

Time left till the end of rainforests

If current trends continue

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• ENVIRONMENT

Why deforestation matters—and what we can do to stop it

Large scale destruction of trees—deforestation—affects ecosystems, climate, and even increases risk for zoonotic diseases spreading to humans.

As the world seeks to slow the pace of climate change , preserve wildlife, and support more than eight billion people , trees inevitably hold a major part of the answer. Yet the mass destruction of trees—deforestation—continues, sacrificing the long-term benefits of standing trees for short-term gain of fuel, and materials for manufacturing and construction.

We need trees for a variety of reasons, not least of which is that they absorb the carbon dioxide we exhale and the heat-trapping greenhouse gases that human activities emit. As those gases enter the atmosphere, global warming increases, a trend scientists now prefer to call climate change.

There is also the imminent danger of disease caused by deforestation. An estimated 60 percent of emerging infectious diseases come from animals, and a major cause of viruses’ jump from wildlife to humans is habitat loss, often through deforestation.

But we can still save our forests. Aggressive efforts to rewild and reforest are already showing success. Tropical tree cover alone can provide 23 percent of the climate mitigation needed to meet goals set in the Paris Agreement in 2015, according to one estimate .

Causes of deforestation

Forests still cover about 30 percent of the world’s land area, but they are disappearing at an alarming rate. Since 1990, the world has lost more than 420 million hectares or about a billion acres of forest, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations —mainly in Africa and South America. About 17 percent of the Amazonian rainforest has been destroyed over the past 50 years, and losses recently have been on the rise . The organization Amazon Conservation reports that destruction rose by 21 percent in 2020 , a loss the size of Israel.

Farming, grazing of livestock, mining, and drilling combined account for more than half of all deforestation . Forestry practices, wildfires and, in small part, urbanization account for the rest. In Malaysia and Indonesia, forests are cut down to make way for producing palm oil , which can be found in everything from shampoo to saltine crackers. In the Amazon, cattle ranching and farms—particularly soy plantations—are key culprits .

For Hungry Minds

Logging operations, which provide the world’s wood and paper products, also fell countless trees each year. Loggers, some of them acting illegally , also build roads to access more and more remote forests—which leads to further deforestation. Forests are also cut as a result of growing urban sprawl as land is developed for homes.

Not all deforestation is intentional. Some is caused by a combination of human and natural factors like wildfires and overgrazing, which may prevent the growth of young trees.

Why it matters

There are some 250 million people who live in forest and savannah areas and depend on them for subsistence and income—many of them among the world’s rural poor.

Eighty percent of Earth’s land animals and plants live in forests , and deforestation threatens species including the orangutan , Sumatran tiger , and many species of birds. Removing trees deprives the forest of portions of its canopy, which blocks the sun’s rays during the day and retains heat at night. That disruption leads to more extreme temperature swings that can be harmful to plants and animals.

With wild habitats destroyed and human life ever expanding, the line between animal and human areas blurs, opening the door to zoonotic diseases . In 2014, for example, the Ebola virus killed over 11,000 people in West Africa after fruit bats transmitted the disease to a toddler who was playing near trees where bats were roosting.

( How deforestation is leading to more infectious diseases in humans .)

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Some scientists believe there could be as many as 1.7 million currently “undiscovered” viruses in mammals and birds, of which up to 827,000 could have the ability to infect people, according to a 2018 study .

Deforestation’s effects reach far beyond the people and animals where trees are cut. The South American rainforest, for example, influences regional and perhaps even global water cycles, and it's key to the water supply in Brazilian cities and neighboring countries. The Amazon actually helps furnish water to some of the soy farmers and beef ranchers who are clearing the forest. The loss of clean water and biodiversity from all forests could have many other effects we can’t foresee, touching even your morning cup of coffee .

In terms of climate change, cutting trees both adds carbon dioxide to the air and removes the ability to absorb existing carbon dioxide. If tropical deforestation were a country, according to the World Resources Institute , it would rank third in carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions, behind China and the U.S.

What can be done

The numbers are grim, but many conservationists see reasons for hope . A movement is under way to preserve existing forest ecosystems and restore lost tree cover by first reforesting (replanting trees) and ultimately rewilding (a more comprehensive mission to restore entire ecosystems).

( Which nation could be the first to be rewilded ?)

Organizations and activists are working to fight illegal mining and logging—National Geographic Explorer Topher White, for example, has come up with a way to use recycled cell phones to monitor for chainsaws . In Tanzania, the residents of Kokota have planted more than 2 million trees on their small island over a decade, aiming to repair previous damage. And in Brazil, conservationists are rallying in the face of ominous signals that the government may roll back forest protections.

( Which tree planting projects should you support ?)

Stopping deforestation before it reaches a critical point will play a key role in avoiding the next zoonotic pandemic. A November 2022 study showed that when bats struggle to find suitable habitat, they travel closer to human communities where diseases are more likely to spillover. Inversely, when bats’ native habitats were left intact, they stayed away from humans. This research is the first to show how we can predict and avoid spillovers through monitoring and maintaining wildlife habitats.

For consumers, it makes sense to examine the products and meats you buy, looking for sustainably produced sources when you can. Nonprofit groups such as the Forest Stewardship Council and the Rainforest Alliance certify products they consider sustainable, while the World Wildlife Fund has a palm oil scorecard for consumer brands.

Related Topics

• DEFORESTATION
• ENVIRONMENT AND CONSERVATION
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How to tackle the global deforestation crisis

Imagine if France, Germany, and Spain were completely blanketed in forests — and then all those trees were quickly chopped down. That’s nearly the amount of deforestation that occurred globally between 2001 and 2020, with profound consequences.

Deforestation is a major contributor to climate change, producing between 6 and 17 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a 2009 study. Meanwhile, because trees also absorb carbon dioxide, removing it from the atmosphere, they help keep the Earth cooler. And climate change aside, forests protect biodiversity.

“Climate change and biodiversity make this a global problem, not a local problem,” says MIT economist Ben Olken. “Deciding to cut down trees or not has huge implications for the world.”

But deforestation is often financially profitable, so it continues at a rapid rate. Researchers can now measure this trend closely: In the last quarter-century, satellite-based technology has led to a paradigm change in charting deforestation. New deforestation datasets, based on the Landsat satellites, for instance, track forest change since 2000 with resolution at 30 meters, while many other products now offer frequent imaging at close resolution.

“Part of this revolution in measurement is accuracy, and the other part is coverage,” says Clare Balboni, an assistant professor of economics at the London School of Economics (LSE). “On-site observation is very expensive and logistically challenging, and you’re talking about case studies. These satellite-based data sets just open up opportunities to see deforestation at scale, systematically, across the globe.”

Balboni and Olken have now helped write a new paper providing a road map for thinking about this crisis. The open-access article, “ The Economics of Tropical Deforestation ,” appears this month in the Annual Review of Economics . The co-authors are Balboni, a former MIT faculty member; Aaron Berman, a PhD candidate in MIT’s Department of Economics; Robin Burgess, an LSE professor; and Olken, MIT’s Jane Berkowitz Carlton and Dennis William Carlton Professor of Microeconomics. Balboni and Olken have also conducted primary research in this area, along with Burgess.

So, how can the world tackle deforestation? It starts with understanding the problem.

Replacing forests with farms

Several decades ago, some thinkers, including the famous MIT economist Paul Samuelson in the 1970s, built models to study forests as a renewable resource; Samuelson calculated the “maximum sustained yield” at which a forest could be cleared while being regrown. These frameworks were designed to think about tree farms or the U.S. national forest system, where a fraction of trees would be cut each year, and then new trees would be grown over time to take their place.

But deforestation today, particularly in tropical areas, often looks very different, and forest regeneration is not common.

Indeed, as Balboni and Olken emphasize, deforestation is now rampant partly because the profits from chopping down trees come not just from timber, but from replacing forests with agriculture. In Brazil, deforestation has increased along with agricultural prices; in Indonesia, clearing trees accelerated as the global price of palm oil went up, leading companies to replace forests with palm tree orchards.

All this tree-clearing creates a familiar situation: The globally shared costs of climate change from deforestation are “externalities,” as economists say, imposed on everyone else by the people removing forest land. It is akin to a company that pollutes into a river, affecting the water quality of residents.

“Economics has changed the way it thinks about this over the last 50 years, and two things are central,” Olken says. “The relevance of global externalities is very important, and the conceptualization of alternate land uses is very important.” This also means traditional forest-management guidance about regrowth is not enough. With the economic dynamics in mind, which policies might work, and why?

The search for solutions

As Balboni and Olken note, economists often recommend “Pigouvian” taxes (named after the British economist Arthur Pigou) in these cases, levied against people imposing externalities on others. And yet, it can be hard to identify who is doing the deforesting.

Instead of taxing people for clearing forests, governments can pay people to keep forests intact. The UN uses Payments for Environmental Services (PES) as part of its REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) program. However, it is similarly tough to identify the optimal landowners to subsidize, and these payments may not match the quick cash-in of deforestation. A 2017 study in Uganda showed PES reduced deforestation somewhat; a 2022 study in Indonesia found no reduction; another 2022 study, in Brazil, showed again that some forest protection resulted.

“There’s mixed evidence from many of these [studies],” Balboni says. These policies, she notes, must reach people who would otherwise clear forests, and a key question is, “How can we assess their success compared to what would have happened anyway?”

Some places have tried cash transfer programs for larger populations. In Indonesia, a 2020 study found such subsidies reduced deforestation near villages by 30 percent. But in Mexico, a similar program meant more people could afford milk and meat, again creating demand for more agriculture and thus leading to more forest-clearing.

At this point, it might seem that laws simply banning deforestation in key areas would work best — indeed, about 16 percent of the world’s land overall is protected in some way. Yet the dynamics of protection are tricky. Even with protected areas in place, there is still “leakage” of deforestation into other regions. 

Still more approaches exist, including “nonstate agreements,” such as the Amazon Soy Moratorium in Brazil, in which grain traders pledged not to buy soy from deforested lands, and reduced deforestation without “leakage.”

Also, intriguingly, a 2008 policy change in the Brazilian Amazon made agricultural credit harder to obtain by requiring recipients to comply with environmental and land registration rules. The result? Deforestation dropped by up to 60 percent over nearly a decade. 

Politics and pulp

Overall, Balboni and Olken observe, beyond “externalities,” two major challenges exist. One, it is often unclear who holds property rights in forests. In these circumstances, deforestation seems to increase. Two, deforestation is subject to political battles.

For instance, as economist Bard Harstad of Stanford University has observed, environmental lobbying is asymmetric. Balboni and Olken write: “The conservationist lobby must pay the government in perpetuity … while the deforestation-oriented lobby need pay only once to deforest in the present.” And political instability leads to more deforestation because “the current administration places lower value on future conservation payments.”

Even so, national political measures can work. In the Amazon from 2001 to 2005, Brazilian deforestation rates were three to four times higher than on similar land across the border, but that imbalance vanished once the country passed conservation measures in 2006. However, deforestation ramped up again after a 2014 change in government. Looking at particular monitoring approaches, a study of Brazil’s satellite-based Real-Time System for Detection of Deforestation (DETER), launched in 2004, suggests that a 50 percent annual increase in its use in municipalities created a 25 percent reduction in deforestation from 2006 to 2016.

How precisely politics matters may depend on the context. In a 2021 paper, Balboni and Olken (with three colleagues) found that deforestation actually decreased around elections in Indonesia. Conversely, in Brazil, one study found that deforestation rates were 8 to 10 percent higher where mayors were running for re-election between 2002 and 2012, suggesting incumbents had deforestation industry support.

“The research there is aiming to understand what the political economy drivers are,” Olken says, “with the idea that if you understand those things, reform in those countries is more likely.”

Looking ahead, Balboni and Olken also suggest that new research estimating the value of intact forest land intact could influence public debates. And while many scholars have studied deforestation in Brazil and Indonesia, fewer have examined the Democratic Republic of Congo, another deforestation leader, and sub-Saharan Africa.

Deforestation is an ongoing crisis. But thanks to satellites and many recent studies, experts know vastly more about the problem than they did a decade or two ago, and with an economics toolkit, can evaluate the incentives and dynamics at play.

“To the extent that there’s ambuiguity across different contexts with different findings, part of the point of our review piece is to draw out common themes — the important considerations in determining which policy levers can [work] in different circumstances,” Balboni says. “That’s a fast-evolving area. We don’t have all the answers, but part of the process is bringing together growing evidence about [everything] that affects how successful those choices can be.”

How can we stop deforestation?

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Brazil has reduced deforestation in the Amazon by 82 percent, the country’s president, Dilma Rousseff, said at the United Nations on Sunday, as she announced Brazil’s contribution to an anticipated new global deal to curb climate change.

In the next 15 years, the Latin American nation aims to eliminate illegal deforestation, restore and reforest 12 million hectares, recover 15 million hectares of degraded pastures, and establish 5 million hectares of land on which crops, livestock and forests co-exist, she said.

Brazil is often lauded internationally as an example of how political will, legislation and the right incentives combined can stop forests being cut down.

But even there, the battle is not won, as deforestation spiked in 2013, mainly in areas where agricultural expansion is happening.

“We’ve been deforesting our planet for the last 40 years – don’t expect it to change overnight,” said Andrew Mitchell, founder and executive director of the Global Canopy Programme (GCP), a tropical forest think tank.

According to a new GCP report , more than 50 percent of the world’s tropical forests have been lost over the last half-century, with Indonesia having replaced Brazil as the country with the highest rates of deforestation.

In the last decade, around two thirds of global deforestation has been driven by the production of agricultural commodities: palm oil, timber and paper products, soya, beef and leather, and to a lesser extent biofuels, the report said.

But more recently some of the world’s biggest companies that produce and trade those commodities have “got it”, realising that destroying rainforests doesn’t make sense for their business in the long term, Mitchell said.

That recognition has given rise to a raft of promises by corporations to stop their operations causing forest loss, in many cases by 2020 or earlier.

Some are joint efforts. The 2014 New York Declaration on Forests, signed by businesses, governments and indigenous peoples, aims to cut natural tropical forest loss in half by 2020 and end it by 2030.

The new Sustainable Development Goals , adopted by 193 countries on Friday, promise to advance the sustainable management of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and plant substantially more trees by 2020.

While the deforestation target has not received much attention, it is one of the few the world is on track to achieve with an extra push to cover the last mile, according to research from the London-based Overseas Development Institute.

While deforestation is expected to continue in the short term, by 2020 the share of the world’s land that is forest is set to start increasing, so that by 2030 there will be almost as much forest as there is today, it said.

Palm oil ahead

To meet goals to end deforestation, the GCP argues that companies must apply their pledges across all commodities, and along their entire supply chains.

Today, only 7 percent of 250 major businesses it tracks have signed up to zero or zero-net deforestation pledges covering their supply chains, while 59 percent have no specific policy for commodities.

And pledges vary by commodity. A separate report  this month from Supply Change, a project led by Washington-based non-profit Forest Trends, found that of 41 companies that had endorsed the New York Declaration on Forests, 94 percent had publicly committed to reduce deforestation risk tied to palm oil.

For soy, however, the figure was only 41 percent and for cattle, 50 percent.

Certification systems for soy and cattle have yet to catch on, while the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil certifies 20 percent of global palm oil production, the report noted.

The GCP’s Mitchell urged reforms that would boost demand for sustainable commodities that do not harm the environment.

“We need to start making the good stuff cheaper than the bad stuff,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Changes to import and export tariffs, taxation of goods, subsidies and government procurement policies could help achieve this, he noted. Developing countries that are major importers of commodities like palm oil – such as China and India – must also come onboard, he added.

It should be possible to make the supply chains of European and North America-based businesses sustainable by 2020, and for the rest of the world by 2030, Mitchell estimated.

Key to this is waking up financial firms, including commercial banks, to the threats their current lending policies pose to forests, he added.

“Trashing forests and making money is great for investors – it’s a very profitable business,” he said.

Efforts are now underway, such the Natural Capital Declaration and the Banking Environment Initiative, to help financial institutions start considering deforestation risk in their investment decisions, the GCP said.

This article is published in collaboration with Thomson Reuters Foundation . Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

To keep up with the Agenda subscribe to our weekly newsletter .

Author: Megan Rowling covers aid and climate change issues, with a focus on social, economic and environmental justice.

Image: A man cuts lumber from trees illegally extracted from the Amazon rainforest in Viseu, Para state, Brazil, Sept. 26, 2013. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes

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Home » Insights » Our 360 Approach to Stopping Rainforest Destruction

Our 360 Approach to Stopping Rainforest Destruction

Filed Under: Insights   |  Tagged: Community forestry , Deforestation , Forests & Biodiversity Last updated July 13, 2020

Last August’s horrifying surge of manmade fires in the Amazon shined a powerful light on the destruction of rainforests around the world. According to Global Forest Watch, we lost 11.9 million hectares of tropical forests in 2019 alone, and rainforest destruction continues at a rapid rate—threatening the millions of people who live in forests and destroying a powerful natural climate solution.

The reasons behind the destruction are complex, but malignant politics, climate change, and a global economy built on reckless natural resource exploitation are mostly to blame. Large-scale agribusinesses raze forests unchecked in order to grow mega-crops like soy and palm, and their shareholders reap the rewards. In the face of devastating poverty or climate-induced crop failure, smallholder farmers sometimes resort to cutting down trees to expand cropland. Damaging politics and policies are to blame, too: Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, for example, not only dismantled forest protections when he took office earlier this year, but he encouraged slash-and-burn farming and illegal incursions into Indigenous land. Bolivia’s President Evo Morales similarly gutted environmental protections in the name of development.

Healthy forests and vibrant communities are an essential part of the global climate solution. Sign up to learn more about our growing alliance.

Because the causes of forest destruction are varied and complex, protecting forests requires sustained collaboration and investment. Over the course of our 30-year history, the Rainforest Alliance has developed proven, multifaceted strategies for protecting forests—a comprehensive, 360-degree approach that puts communities and livelihoods at its center. Here are the key elements.

Stopping rainforest destruction by boosting rural prosperity

The most effective, scientifically proven strategy for protecting forests from agricultural expansion, illegal logging, and mining—as well as from fires—is to build more sustainable, rural economies in collaboration with communities that live in and around them. To that end, the Rainforest Alliance offers training to farmers in methods that generate higher yields on existing cropland; these methods also protect soils and waterways. Our work with forest communities focuses on cultivating thriving businesses that harvest timber—or non-timber products like nuts and palm fronds—according to rigorous forest management plans. Trainings on financial literacy and business management also provide tools to support communities seeking alternatives to clearing forests, as do market connections to buyers who are committed to responsible sourcing.

Communities we work with in the Maya Biosphere Reserve have achieved a net forest gain in the areas they manage through the application of this strategy. Partner communities in the Peruvian Amazon have created bustling businesses from sustainable timber, ecotourism, and Brazil nuts—all of which gird them against the advances of illegal loggers and miners. In Ghana , an innovative land management board we co-created with 36 cocoa farming communities (spread out over 29,000 hectares) carried out the planting of 58,600 native tree seedlings in degraded areas. In southern and central Mexico , cooperative forest communities have created thriving timber and furniture businesses with technical assistance from the Rainforest Alliance.

Building responsible supply chains

In recent years, hundreds of companies publicly promised to eliminate deforestation from their supply chains by 2020. Some made significant progress, but many failed to realize any movement toward their goals. The Accountability Framework, a roadmap for sustainability developed by a consortium of NGOs that includes the Rainforest Alliance, provides guidelines, monitoring tools, and benchmarks to provide clear guidance to companies on the path to sustainability.

Certification can be a powerful tool—in combination with other interventions—for transforming supply chains. Third-party sustainability certification programs like ours remain one of the most effective sustainable development tools available in the world today (as compared to company verification programs, which provide less transparency). Certification can also catalyze training for smallholder farmers: When a company commits to purchasing certified crops, for example, it will often support farmers in meeting the requirements for certification by providing trainings on phasing out dangerous pesticides, integrated weed management, record-keeping, composting, soil fertility, and more. We recently published our new and enhanced 2020 Certification Program to accelerate environmental, social, and economic improvement.

Influencing policy

Finally, the Rainforest Alliance works all over the world to advance policies that enable sustainability transformation; we also serve as expert advisor to several companies and governmental bodies seeking guidance on implementation. Currently, for example, the Rainforest Alliance is working to ensure that the European Union’s Action Plan on Deforestation includes political, technical, and financial support to effectively meet its aims. We are encouraging the EU to develop and consider legislation that requires companies to identify, prevent, mitigate, and account for their impacts on tropical forests and human rights. As an organization with a long track record of marshalling market forces to improve lives and protect forests, we are uniquely positioned now to influence both companies and governments on far-reaching policy and legislation.

Our work in Jembrana, Bali , is a good example of how we influenced policy to support improved farmer livelihoods and landscapes. In 2017, through our Sector Partnerships Program , we launched a national and regional advocacy and lobbying effort with the Kalimajari Foundation, an Indonesian civil society organization, to support implementation of a national policy requiring companies to buy locally fermented cocoa beans. With our support, Kalimajari was able to gain traction up and down the supply chain, first training farmers in sustainable cultivation and fermenting, and then convincing companies to purchase from these local farmers; furthermore, the Indonesian government adopted Kalimajari’s model as its own national model for quality cocoa. Working at both the regional and national levels, our advocacy team advances policies in countries with standing forests in order to contribute to a legal landscape where technical training and supply-chain strategies can be most effective.

Forests Are Falling At An Alarming Rate.

Deforestation and Effective Ways to Prevent It Essay

Introduction, strategies for preventing deforestation, works cited.

Deforestation has been one of the most significant threats to sustainability in the contemporary world. This process implies the excessive use of forests, including the lands and the wood material, for agriculture, fuel generation, and others. Indeed, forests are being cut into too large clear areas for fields to grow agricultural products to feed animals. Moreover, the demand for wood as a material has increased, which has yielded the intensification of deforestation. This tendency is now sustainability and environmental issue since deforestation particularly contributes to increasing greenhouse gas emissions (Miyamoto 1). Therefore, it is imperative to identify the most effective ways of reducing deforestation on a global scale to ensure environmental safety and sustainable economic development from a long-term perspective.

The most effective way of solving the problem and preventing deforestation is through large-scale actions that would necessitate industries to comply with standards for deforestation minimization. According to Castro-Nunez et al., agriculture is the industry that causes the most harm to forests (5). Therefore, the first strategy that is likely to produce positive outcomes in terms of deforestation prevention is the intensification of standards and requirements for agricultural corporations. In particular, there are two ways to implement this strategy, namely through initiatives like zero-deforestation value chain interventions and supply chain restructuring to minimize excessive use of forests (Castro-Nunez et al. 5). If large corporations comply with such policies on a global scale, the change will be possible to achieve, and deforestation will be prevented.

Secondly, initiatives on a governmental level should be broadened and intensified to ensure collaboration and commitment to the zero-deforestation goals by both the private and public sectors. Indeed, the use of forested lands should be strictly controlled by governmental bodies to promote sustainable use of forests by both public companies and private industry actors. Thirdly, the connection between poverty and deforestation implies implementing poverty-reduction policies as a way of deforestation prevention. Indeed, Miyamoto suggests that due to the high costs of sustainability policies implementation, developing countries, especially tropical ones, suffer from excessive deforestation due to their economic incapability to adhere to zero-deforestation programs within their industries (1-2). Therefore, special efforts should be devoted to addressing poverty issues to ensure that both developed and developing countries contribute to preventing deforestation globally.

Thirdly, other effective ways of prevention might be implemented in a more short-term manner and on a smaller scale. Indeed, the actions of individual citizens might have a positive impact on deforestation minimization. Therefore, developing habits of choosing brands that employ zero-deforestation policies might promote a positive change in the problem area. Moreover, engaging in paper and wood recycling practices, planting trees, and using sustainable and recyclable products might be effective individual practices to reduce and prevent deforestation.

In summation, the latest intensification of adverse climate change processes has been closely linked to excessive deforestation. It is through effective preventative measures that the global community will be able to minimize greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental harm generated due to deforestation. Among the long-term and global methods of prevention, zero-deforestation policies, joint public-private efforts, and poverty reduction should be implemented. As for the individual level, people should develop sustainable lifestyle habits to have a positive influence on deforestation minimization.

Castro-Nunez, Augusto, et al. “Reducing Deforestation through Value Chain Interventions in Countries Emerging from Conflict: The Case of the Colombian Cocoa Sector.” Applied Geography, vol. 123, 2020, pp. 1-22.

Miyamoto, Motoe. “Poverty Reduction Saves Forests Sustainably: Lessons for Deforestation Policies.” World Development, vol. 127, 2020, pp. 1-12.

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IvyPanda. (2022, December 15). Deforestation and Effective Ways to Prevent It. https://ivypanda.com/essays/deforestation-and-effective-ways-to-prevent-it/

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IvyPanda . (2022) 'Deforestation and Effective Ways to Prevent It'. 15 December.

IvyPanda . 2022. "Deforestation and Effective Ways to Prevent It." December 15, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/deforestation-and-effective-ways-to-prevent-it/.

1. IvyPanda . "Deforestation and Effective Ways to Prevent It." December 15, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/deforestation-and-effective-ways-to-prevent-it/.

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IvyPanda . "Deforestation and Effective Ways to Prevent It." December 15, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/deforestation-and-effective-ways-to-prevent-it/.

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How We Work With Forests

We use science to protect, better manage and restore forests to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, store carbon and benefit people and wildlife.

September 20, 2021 | Last updated September 27, 2023

• Why Forests Matter

Restoration

How you can help.

Forests are one of the most important ecoystems on Earth. They provide habitat to 80% of the world’s land-dwelling species. They help keep our water clean by naturally filtering out pollution. They provide sustenance, support jobs and offer refuge and recreation to billions of people around the planet. And they are one of our most critical natural pathways for absorbing and storing excess carbon to fight climate change. For millennia, trees have pulled carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and turned it into their bark, wood and leaves through the oldest carbon-capture technology on Earth: photosynthesis.

What are Natural Climate Solutions?

Natural climate solutions are actions to protect, better manage and restore nature to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and store carbon. Forests provide much of that carbon-storage opportunity. The latest estimates can be found at naturebase.org .

The Relationship Between Forests and Climate Change

Research about natural climate solutions shows that by avoiding deforestation, restoring forest ecosystems and better managing existing forests, we can contribute significantly to our climate goals. 

The Nature Conservancy works with governments, corporations, Indigenous Peoples and thousands of partners around the world to  protect , sustainably  manage  and  restore  our life-giving forests.

Quote : Ronnie Drever

It’s hard to overemphasize the importance of forests. Photosynthesis is the original carbon-capture technology. And, of course, forests also provide many other benefits for people and for nature.

When we protect existing forests, we avoid and reduce deforestation that contributes to climate change and biodiversity loss.

Approximately 41 million trees are cut down every day—far faster than we are currently replanting them. The consequences of deforestation and other types of land degradation are severe, exacerbating climate change, biodiversity loss and declines in ecosystem services that hundreds of millions of people depend on.

In particular, the way we produce common commodities—like beef, soy and palm oil—leads to massive deforestation. This causes habitat and biodiversity loss and contributes about an eighth of global climate emissions, with enormous impacts on the many local and Indigenous communities who rely on these forests.

TNC’s decades of research, partnerships and on-the-ground projects have pointed us to a new path that gets to the root of the issue. By changing the underlying incentives and market models that promote agricultural expansion into existing forests, we can help producers transition to more sustainable practices at a large scale, ultimately eliminating deforestation from commodity production.

Ways We Address Deforestation

Corporate engagement.

We engage directly with companies and industry groups on how and why to make smarter decisions in their sourcing, constructively challenging them to improve their monitoring, traceability and transparency to become fully deforestation-free. Learn more about how we work with companies.

International Policy

We work to inform public policy in both key consumer countries like China and the UK, and in important producer and export countries in South America to change the structures that currently favor agricultural expansion over forest protection. Learn more about our global work.

Innovative Finance

We have partnered with the UN Environment Programme and the Tropical Forest Alliance on an initiative called IFACC - Innovative Finance for the Amazon, Cerrado and Chaco—that helps financial institutions and companies structure and deploy over US$4 billion in commercial capital commitments for conversion-free beef and soy production. Learn more about our impact investing work.

Better Management

TNC supports forest protection, restoration, and sustainable forest management practices, based on sound science and traditional knowledge. Many of the world’s natural forests provide wood and fiber products—like lumber, furniture and paper—critical to people’s lives and livelihoods. While some logging practices harm forests and the people that depend on them, improved and sustainable forest management makes it possible for nature, communities and economies to thrive.

What is Biomass?

Biomass is organic material that comes from plants and animals. It can come from waste or by-products (e.g. municipal waste, agricultural residue, sawdust, small-diameter timber cut to reduce wildfire risk) or dedicated sources (energy crops, timber). Biomass (directly or when processed into wood pellets) can be combusted to make electricity or turned into biofuels (e.g. ethanol, biodiesel, aviation fuel).

In many places protection is our primary strategy. But pushing for an end to all logging is impractical, unnecessary and ultimately ineffective. Improved and sustainable management practices allow forests to stay forests, while storing more carbon and maintaining wood and fiber production over the long term.

Wood can also be used for energy. Producing energy from woody biomass poses some risks. Demand for wood pellets, one form of wood used for energy production, can lead to degradation and loss of valuable healthy forests. In addition, the facilities that produce wood pellets can also impact air quality and cause disproportionate harm to Black, Brown and other overburdened communities.

We do not support timber harvest or bioenergy production that leads to environmental degradation, injustice, or otherwise harms communities. We believe the carbon impacts of forest products and bioenergy should be accurately calculated. We are against treating all bioenergy as carbon neutral or all forest products as climate solutions.

What do we mean by Improved Forest Management?

Improved forest management refers to caring for a forest in a way that improves climate change resilience and reduces or removes carbon dioxide emissions. Here are some examples:

Climate-Smart Forestry

Climate-smart forestry practices are designed to improve forest health, maximize the potential for carbon sequestration and help fight climate change. These practices can include ecological thinning, or selectively cutting trees for the betterment of whole forest. For example, removing smaller diameter trees gives larger trees more room to grow and spacing out harvests across longer intervals of time allows older and larger trees to store more carbon.

In the U.S., the Working Woodlands program and the Family Forest Carbon Program leverage the power of privately owned forests by helping landowners improve the way forests on their properties are managed. In exchange, landowners are paid for the additional carbon their trees capture and store.

Our Carbon Markets Work

Fire Management

TNC has been working with fire in forests since 1962, when we conducted our first controlled burn. Our approach has evolved from primarily focusing on managing our preserves to a holistic model that includes equitable policy and funding, supporting Indigenous fire practitioners as they revitalize traditional fire cultures and elevate Indigenous leadership on fire, growing and diversifying the ranks of those who work with fire, and helping communities develop ways to live more safely with wildfire in forested areas and other landscapes.

In the United States, TNC helps lead the  Fire Learning Network ,  Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network ,  Indigenous Peoples Burning Network , maps conditions through  LANDFIRE , helps train new fire workers in  TREX  programs, and performs controlled burns across tens of thousands of acres each year.

In some forests we are combining ecological thinning with a safe reintroduction of fire to  improve forest health and habitat .

Our Work With Fire

Urban Forestry

Trees in urban neighborhoods improve air quality and mental health, lower air temperatures, decrease flooding, and provide habitat for wildlife. The Nature Conservancy is working around the United States to increase and improve tree cover and health for people and urban nature.

The Nature Conservancy is working with urban foresters, local organizations, and residents of many neighborhoods around the US  to improve outcomes for residents and students in tree-related education and workforce development programs through tree planting and care. We know that mature shade trees provide the most benefits for our communities—so the Healthy Trees, Healthy Cities Initiative helps protect these most important urban trees from damage, disease, pests, and other threats. We partner with the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station and the University of Georgia, along with civic ecologists and conservation professionals, to monitor and maintain mature urban trees.

Our Cities Work

Indigenous-led Stewardship

Many Indigenous communities around the world already manage forests in ways that draw from their traditions and values. In many cases, these practices sequester more carbon and result in improved economic outcomes for communites compared to other forestry practices. 

For example, in Canada many communities are already taking different values into account, ranging from biodiversity to water resilience, and food security to local economies. Not only does this approach benefit local communities and provinces, but it benefits the whole of Canada and the wider world, contributing to the global fight against climate change. 

Watch a Video

Reducing Impacts of Pests & Pathogens

Every year, insects and diseases damage an average of 50+ million forest acres in the USA—and another 40 million acres in Canada—critically harming up to 15% of forest cover. While some of these forest insects and diseases are native to their ecosystems and their actions are part of the natural cycles of forested areas, others are non-native invasive species that damage and kill trees at uncontrolled and accelerated rates. 

Implementing improved forest management practices—such as ecological thinning, prescribed fire, and the use of biological controls for the reduction of forest pest populations—can increase the resilience of forests to pests and pathogens. Other actions taken at a global scale, such as strengthening the international trade requirements for the prevention of invasive species hiding in cargo and packaging, serve to prevent new damaging pests from entering new forests.

Slowing Forest Pests

Liana Cutting

Climate change and other human disturbances are causing woody vine infestations to intensify, especially in forests subject to selective logging. While lianas are fundamental components of most tropical and some temperate forest ecosystems, they decrease tree survival and growth rates, thereby decreasing timber yields in managed forests and reducing carbon storage wherever they are abundant. Dozens of previous experimental studies document that in response to liana removal, tree growth rates often double.

Research shows that strategic liana cutting, primarily in selectively logged forests, can substantially increase timber production and provide forest managers with access to voluntary carbon markets. By using science to guide the targeted reduction of lianas in selected areas, both biodiversity and carbon sequestration goals can be better met.

Read a Study

Planting trees is a tried-and-true way to fight climate change.

Reforestation—or the practice of restoring tree cover to an area that was once forested, either by planting trees or allowing trees to regrow—is a tried-and-true natural climate solution.

Research led by The Nature Conservancy has shown that  in the United States, planting trees  on frequently flooded lands, open urban spaces, degraded pastures and other formerly forested, under-utilized areas has the potential to capture up to 535 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.

Quote : Susan Cook-Patton

Planting a tree, or simply letting seedlings grow in our own backyards, represents something we can do now to reignite our hope for a better future.

Reforestation Hub

Reforestation Hub is a web-based tool produced by TNC and American Forests.

But there is more to reforestation than planting millions of trees. We need the  right  trees and the  right  places. The Reforestation Hub, a free, online tool developed by TNC and American Forests, is a starting point for understanding this opportunity. Tools like this will help ensure reforestation is as effective as possible.

The Science of Restoring Forests

Tree planting is a promising natural solution to climate change and comes with enormous benefits beyond climate mitigation, such as biodiversity, habitat connectivity, improved community livelihoods, and improved freshwater and air quality. TNC and partners advance important science to help ensure efforts to restore forests are effective and equitable.

npj Urban Sustainability |

An ambitious, nationwide program of urban tree-planting could reduce health imbalances between neighborhoods and help communities adapt to a changing climate. See how trees can reduce heat-related health risks in cities.

Nature Communications |

Provides a global analysis of where restoration of tree cover is most effective at cooling the global climate system—considering not just the cooling from carbon storage but also the warming from decreased albedo. See how albedo impacts tree planting.

Restoration Ecology |

Planting forests with diverse species can help ensure their success. Learn why diversity matters in forests.

Letting forests regrow naturally has the potential to absorb up to 8.9 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year through 2050, while still maintaining native grasslands and current levels of food production. Learn how forest regrowth can contribute to climate goals.

TNC works with governments, corporations, Indigenous Peoples and thousands of partners around the world to protect, restore and sustainably manage forests.

Examples of our work in forests around the world

You play an important role in improving the health of forests, in your own neighborhood and across the globe. Here's how you can help.

Plant a Billion Trees

Donate to help us plant and care for trees in critical forests around the world in Brazil, China, Colombia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mexico and the United States. Plant your tree now.

Family Forest Carbon Program

Owners of small forests in the U.S. can leverage the carbon-storing power of their trees in the fight against climate change and earn revenue by enrolling in this program. Learn how to get your family forest involved.

Don't Move Firewood

Moving firewood across long distances can potentially transport invasive species that cause damage to forests. You can make a difference by using local or heat-treated firewood whenever you need wood for your campsite, cabin or home heating. Learn how you can stop the spread of forest pests and pathogens.

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More Forest Stories

6 Ways Trees Benefit All of Us

From a city park to a vast forest, trees deliver for us when we help them thrive. Here are 6 ways.

Living Carbon: Stories of Nature’s Climate Solutions

In this series, we showcase innovative carbon projects in Africa, the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania, Chile's Valdivian Forest, and the Emerald Edge of North America's Pacific Coast.

Reforesting the U.S.

The Reforestation Hub identifies up to 148 million acres of total opportunity for reforestation, which could capture up to 535 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.

By Susan Cook-Patton

10 Things You Can Do to Protect the Rainforest

What can you do to protect the rainforest? It turns out quite a bit, even if you don’t live near one! What we consume, support with time and money, and lend our voices to have far-reaching impacts.

1. Eliminate Deforestation From Your Diet

Many of the foods we eat are grown on lands that have been deforested for grazing and agriculture. For example, beef , soybean , and palm oil are major drivers of deforestation in the Amazon basin. Fortunately, we can limit our contribution to these destructive industries and reduce demand for these products. Choosing sustainably-produced foods and products forces companies to change their practices. Consider reducing your meat intake , or else buy meat from local farms. You don’t have to stop eating meat all at once, and with more people today limiting meat consumption, more meatless choices are widely available! According to one study , annual greenhouse gas emissions would drop by one percent if everyone in the U.S. cut meat consumption by just a quarter.

2. Buy Responsibly Sourced Products

Choosing products that are responsibly sourced or made from recycled materials can go a long way to curbing tropical deforestation. For example, if you seek out jewelry brands that use eco-friendly practices —like recycling gold in their pieces—you’ll be helping push back against gold mining in the Amazon, a leading cause of deforestation and river pollution there . Similarly, logging for threatened woods like mahogany, rosewood, and ebony drives rainforest destruction. Look for alternative, non-tropical hardwood . Use paper products made from recycled pulp, or choose products that have been certified by organizations like the Forest Stewardship Council . On Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, look for sustainably and locally sourced cut flowers. You can also refrain from purchasing products from companies who score poorly in terms of eliminating deforestation from their supply chains. And tell businesses when they’re losing your support: If you feel a company’s business practices are environmentally destructive, send them a letter expressing your concern 

3. Choose Products That Give Back

It’s best to buy less. But when you do buy, choose companies that donate directly to environmental causes. Teadora —which offers a line of skin care products—works with Rainforest Foundation US to protect over 500 square miles of rainforest habitat for endangered species, and to plant more than one million trees in an area that is sacred to the Wapichan people. There are hundreds of companies, specializing in a variety of products, that give back to the environment. Certified B Corporations has narrowed down some of the best, ranging from food and beverages to paper products to cleaning products. Encourage your office or school to do the same, by making a simple switch to a product that gives back! And if you’re a business owner interested in partnering with us and making a difference, reach out to us !

4. Support Indigenous Communities

Indigenous peoples are the best defenders of their territories and science backs this up . Buying artisanal and fair trade products made by Indigenous peoples is an effective way to protect rainforests—but know who to buy from to be sure you are not inadvertently supporting companies that benefit from cultural appropriation . Look into these businesses’ labor practices, and their stance on Indigenous peoples’ rights. Your best bet is to buy directly from I ndigenous-owned companies or from services like Ten Thousand Villages , which sells ethically produced products sourced from Indigenous and low-income communities around the world. And the next time you travel, consider visiting communities through ecotourism. Ecotourism gives you an opportunity to learn about other cultures and, as long as the tour is owned and operated by Indigenous people , directly supports their livelihoods. Educate yourself about the historical erasure of Indigenous peoples to better support these communities, and to make informed choices that help empower Indigenous peoples.

5. Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

To stem the climate crisis, action is needed at all levels of society to reduce carbon emissions and promote low-carbon development. While the task seems daunting, there are many things you as an individual can do to reduce your carbon footprint: Drive less, take public transportation, turn down your thermostat (even a couple of degrees makes a big difference!), avoid fast fashion , and avoid unnecessary air travel. Start by calculating your carbon footprint , and consider where you can minimize it. Whatever you cannot reduce, you can mitigate by supporting projects that keep forests standing. Rainforests are extremely efficient at storing carbon, and keeping forests intact is a crucial way to address the climate crisis .

6. Email Your Preferred News Outlet

News outlets help determine what issues are top-of-mind for their readers. By focusing on one topic or another, they drive public discourse and inspire the public to take action. You can encourage your preferred media outlet to cover rainforest news by emailing the editor.  Encourage your loved ones to join you in advocating for the protection of rainforests, Indigenous rights, and the climate crisis. When editors know that these issues are significant to their readers, they are more likely to cover them in their articles and reach a broader audience.

7. Inform Yourself and Others

The more people know what is happening to rainforests and the Indigenous communities who protect and rely on them, the more likely they are to support the cause. Learn more about environmental issues and Indigenous peoples’ stories , and tell friends and family why it’s important to you! By sharing on social media, you spread public awareness , and contribute pressure to hold governments and corporations responsible for deforestation—don’t underestimate the power of your voice! Nations and companies around the world are making commitments to protect forests and address the climate crisis. Let’s hold them to their promise. Consider sharing one of Rainforest Foundation US’s posts on social media, or rainforest news from other reputable media outlets. Don’t forget to like us on Facebook , follow us on Instagram , Twitter , and Youtube , and subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates.

8. Get Political

Elected officials largely determine the use of governmental funds, and they have a duty to represent your interests. Call, email, or attend your representatives’ public meetings to remind them that according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , protecting rainforests and supporting Indigenous community land management are critical solutions to climate change. Ask them to support low-carbon development agendas that fulfill environmental and social safeguards, including respect for Indigenous peoples’ rights. Demand that they prioritize business policies that incentivize responsible sourcing, fair trade practices, and deforestation-free supply chains. This tool makes it easy to find and contact your U.S. federal representatives. And voting in local elections is one of the best ways to make a change!

9. Volunteer Your Time

The contribution of your personal time and energy can make a big difference. Think you can spare one to two hours per week, or even five to ten? Rainforest Foundation US welcomes volunteers with a range of skills and talents to support our mission. From translations, to editing, to video production, your commitment and time can help us advance our vision of a world where the planet’s majestic rainforests thrive in perpetuity. Find out more about our volunteer opportunities .

10. Host a Fundraiser

Launching your own campaign can spread awareness about rainforest protection and climate action in your community, while raising essential financial support for the cause. Interested, but don’t know where to start? We’ve created an easy way to do this, through inviting donations to Rainforest Foundation US for your birthday or other special occasion ( learn where to start here )! Consider organizing a benefit concert, art show, poetry slam, bake sale, or a 5k “run for the rainforest.” The ideas are endless for ways you can make a difference! Your friends and family will feel good that they can support you, and the cause that’s important to you.

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The main purpose of deforestation is to increase the land area. Also, this land area is to set up new industries. And, this all is because of the increase in population. As the population increases the demand for products also increase. So rich businessmen set up these industries to increase profit.

Harmful Effects of Deforestation

There are many harmful effects of deforestation. Some of them are below: Soil erosion: Soil erosion is the elimination of the upper layer of the soil. It takes place when there is removing of trees that bind the soil. As a result wind and water carries away the top layer of the soil.

Moreover, disasters like landslides take place because of this. Furthermore, soil erosion is responsible for various floods. As trees are not present to stop the waters from heavy rainfall’s gush directly to the plains. This results in damaging of colonies where people are living.

Global Warming: Global warming is the main cause of the change in our environment. These seasons are now getting delayed. Moreover, there is an imbalance in their ratios. The temperatures are reaching its extreme points. This year it was 50 degrees in the plains, which is most of all. Furthermore, the glaciers in the Himalayan ranges are melting.

As a result, floods are affecting the hilly regions of our country and the people living there. Moreover, the ratio of water suitable for drinking is also decreasing.

Impact on the water cycle: Since through transpiration, trees release soil water into the environment. Thus cutting of them is decreasing the rate of water in the atmosphere. So clouds are not getting formed. As a result, the agricultural grounds are not receiving proper rainfall. Therefore it is indirectly affecting humans only.

A great threat to wildlife: Deforestation is affecting wildlife as well. Many animals like Dodo, Sabre-toothed Cat, Tasmanian Tiger are already extinct. Furthermore, some animals are on the verge of extinction. That’s because they have lost habitat or their place of living. This is one of the major issues for wildlife protectors.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

How to Avert Deforestation?

Deforestation can be averted by various countermeasures. First of all, we should afforestation which is growing of trees in the forest. This would help to resolve the loss of the trees cut down. Moreover, the use of plant-based products should increase.

This would force different industries to grow more trees. As a result, the environment will also get benefit from it. Furthermore, people should grow small plants in their houses. That will help the environment to regain its ability. At last, the government should take strict actions against people. Especially those who are illegally cutting down trees.

FAQs on Essay on Deforestation

Q1. Why is deforestation harmful to our environment?

A1. Deforestation is harmful to our environment because it is creating different problems. These problems are soil erosion, global warming. Moreover, it is also causing different disasters like floods and landslides.

Q2. How are animals affected by deforestation?

A2. Deforestation affects animals as they have lost their habitat. Moreover, herbivores animals get their food from plants and trees. As a result, they are not getting proper food to eat, which in turn is resulting in their extinction

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Stopping Deforestation: What Works and What Doesn't

CGD Climate and Forest Paper Series #3

A new Center for Global Development meta-analysis of 117 studies has identified the key factors that drive or deter deforestation. Some findings confirm conventional wisdom. Building roads and expanding agriculture in forested areas, for example, worsen deforestation, whereas protected areas deter deforestation. Encouragingly, payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs that compensate people who live in or near forests for maintaining them are consistently associated with lower rates of deforestation.

But contrary to popular belief, poverty is not associated with greater deforestation, and the rising incomes brought about by economic growth do not, in themselves, lead to less deforestation. Community forest management and strengthening land tenure, often thought to reduce deforestation while promoting development, have no consistent impact on deforestation.

These findings have important implications for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), the global movement to offer tropical countries performance-based payments for protecting their forests. The findings provide the best evidence yet that deliberate policies coupled with financial incentives can slow, halt, and eventually reverse the loss of the world’s remaining tropical forests.

This brief is based on Kalifi Ferretti-Gallon and Jonah Busch, “ What Drives Deforestation and What Stops It? A Meta-Analysis of Spatially Explicit Econometric Studies ,” CGD Working Paper 361 (Washington: Center for Global Development, 2014).

The Many Benefits of Forests

Forests provide a wealth of public and private goods and services, including carbon storage, biodiversity, water filtration, storm mitigation, timber and nontimber products, wild foods and medicines, and tourism. Yet despite its inherent value, forested land is being cleared for other uses such farming, pasturing, mining, and urban development. Every year claims a net forest loss of 125,000 square kilometers—an area the size of Greece or Mississippi—and that rate is increasing by 2,000 square kilometers per year. [1] Of the current net forest loss, 58 percent is in the tropics, where forests are being converted to cropland and pasture for the production of soy, beef, palm oil, and timber.

A variety of deliberate policies have been devised to slow the rate of deforestation. Forested countries have designated protected areas, increased law enforcement, and set up programs to pay for ecosystem services; consumer countries have placed import restrictions on illegal tropical timber; and private supply-chain actors have introduced eco-labeling, certification, and sustainable sourcing measures. As international concern about climate change has grown, attention has intensified on reducing the 10–15 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions resulting from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+).

Investigating Drivers of Deforestation

All efforts to safeguard forests benefit from research on the factors that drive deforestation and the policies that can stop it. Dozens of individual spatially explicit econometric studies of deforestation have investigated drivers of deforestation in particular places at particular times. Several previous articles have reviewed this literature (see further reading), but until now, no systematic and comprehensive review of these studies has been produced. By examining all such studies collectively, we are able to quantify and compare the relative influence on deforestation of dozens of commonly studied factors.

We compiled a comprehensive database of all spatially explicit econometric studies of deforestation that met five prespecified criteria. [2] This resulted in a database of 117 studies published in peer-reviewed academic journals from 1996 to 2013, spanning 36 countries, and covering two-thirds of all tropical forests. These studies collectively contained 1,159 uniquely named explanatory variables, which we grouped into 40 categories. We counted the number of times that variables in each category were shown to be positively associated with deforestation, negatively associated, or neither (see figure 1). Understanding which factors are consistently associated with higher or lower rates of deforestation can assist public agencies seeking to conserve forests for their many public and private values (see box 1 for a summary of the most promising approaches).

Four Promising Approaches for Stopping Deforestation

For decision-makers seeking to curtail deforestation, our meta-analysis of 117 spatially explicit econometric studies suggests four promising approaches:

• Roads: Forest countries and investment banks should plan road networks to minimize intrusion into remote forested areas.
• Protected areas: Forest countries should target protected areas and regions where forests face higher threat.
• Payments: Forest countries should make payments for ecosystem services (PES), tying support for rural incomes to the maintenance of forest resources.
• Agriculture: Forest countries and agricultural companies should insulate forested areas from demand for agricultural commodities.

As an overarching policy, rich countries should finance international performance-based payments to forest countries for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) in order to increase the rewards for successfully undertaking any of the above interventions.

Several frequently proposed “win-win” approaches for forests and development are not consistently associated with lower rates of deforestation. These include economic growth , greater land tenure security , and community forest management .

Figure 1: What Drives Deforestation and What Stops It? A Meta-Analysis

Ratio of regression coefficients showing significant negative association with deforestation to regression coefficients showing significant positive association with deforestation, based on 5,605 regression coefficients in 117 spatially explicit econometric studies. “Not significant” denotes not statistically significantly different from 1:1 in a two-tailed t-test at the 95 percent confidence level. Results displayed for the 20 most commonly included meta-variables only; meta-variables with fewer than 55 coefficients are not displayed.

What Drives Deforestation, and What Stops It?

Agricultural variables are consistently associated with higher deforestation. This is not surprising since most forestland is cleared for agriculture and pasture. However, agricultural effects vary across mechanized agriculture, small-scale agriculture, and cattle ranching. ( Evidence base: 17 countries on 5 continents )

Biophysical variables (physical characteristics of the land and forest) have a clear impact on deforestation by affecting accessibility, clearing costs, and agricultural productivity. Deforestation is consistently lower at higher elevations, on steeper slopes, and in wetter areas, whereas it is consistently higher on soil that was more suitable for agriculture. Proximity to water is not significantly associated with higher or lower deforestation. ( Evidence base: 34 countries on 5 continents )

Built infrastructure is consistently associated with higher deforestation. Proximity to roads and urban areas increases deforestation by lowering transportation costs to markets, by making frontier land more accessible to new migrants, and by enabling remote economies to transform from local subsistence agriculture to market-oriented farming systems. ( Evidence base: 33 countries on 5 continents )

Community forest management is not consistently associated with either higher or lower deforestation. ( Evidence base: El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Mexico )

Demographic variables, such as age, education, gender, or property size, have no consistent association with either higher or lower deforestation. ( Evidence base: 17 countries on 4 continents )

Indigenous peoples are consistently associated with low deforestation in areas with both low and high levels of baseline threat. ( Evidence base: Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico )

Land-tenure security shows no consistent association with either higher or lower deforestation. While more secure property rights for indigenous peoples is sometimes associated with lower deforestation, more secure land tenure can also increase investment, leading to greater deforestation. The converse is sometimes true: insecure property rights can reduce the present value of standing forests and encourage owners to convert the land to benefit from more productive uses and to reduce the risk of expropriation. ( Evidence base: 9 countries on 3 continents )

Law enforcement outside of protected areas is consistently associated with lower deforestation. ( Evidence base: Brazil, Indonesia )

Payments for ecosystem services are consistently associated with lower rates of deforestation. While early research found little effect of PES on deforestation rates in Costa Rica, subsequent studies found PES in Costa Rica to have had a positive effect on total forest cover, which includes forest regrowth in addition to deforestation. ( Evidence base: Costa Rica, Mexico )

Population shows a strong association with greater deforestation, though endogeneity makes a causal link difficult to infer. Population can increase deforestation by increasing the supply of labor and the local demand for agricultural products, but population growth occurs simultaneously with other rural economic expansion that increases deforestation pressure, and an increase in cleared land can support a greater population. ( Evidence base: 26 countries on 5 continents )

Poverty is consistently associated with lower rates of deforestation, but no consistent evidence shows that higher income is sufficient on its own to slow and reverse deforestation without additional deliberate policy interventions. In the absence of careful study design, the changes in deforestation that can be directly attributed to poverty or to changes in income or wealth are difficult to separate from concurrent geographical or temporal trends that also affect deforestation. Increased income from rural support programs is consistently associated with increased rates of deforestation. ( Evidence base: 17 countries on 5 continents )

Protected areas is the variable most consistently associated with lower deforestation. Lower deforestation in protected areas is often due to the geographical remoteness of those areas, in addition to their legal status. ( Evidence base: 19 countries on 4 continents )

Proximity to cleared land is consistently associated with greater deforestation. This may be a consequence of either increased access and reduced clearing costs or omitted variables that are correlated with a greater likelihood of deforestation. ( Evidence base: 19 countries on 5 continents )

Timber variables (timber activity and timber price) are not consistently associated with either higher or lower deforestation. The mixed relationship between timber variables and deforestation suggests that the economic returns that forests provide through timber harvest may be forestalling more rapid conversion of these forests to agriculture, even while logging activity can degrade forests and increase access into remote areas, which can lead to later deforestation. ( Evidence base: Bolivia, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Myanmar, Panama, Thailand )

Further Reading

Angelsen, A., and Kaimowitz, D. 1999. “Rethinking the Causes of Deforestation: Lessons from Economic Models.” The World Bank Research Observer 14: 73–98.

Angelsen, A., and Rudel, T. K. 2013. “Designing and Implementing Effective REDD+ Policies: A Forest Transition Approach.” Review of Environmental Economics and Policy 7, no. 1: 91–113.

Choumert, J., Combes-Motel, P., and Dakpo, H. K. 2013. “Is the Environmental Kuznets Curve for Deforestation a Threatened Theory? A Meta-analysis of the Literature.” Ecological Economics 90: 19–28.

Ferretti-Gallon, K., and Busch, J. 2014. “What Drives Deforestation and What Stops It? A Meta-analysis of Spatially Explicit Econometric Studies.” CGD Working Paper 361. Washington, DC: Center for Global Development.

Geist, H. J., and Lambin, E. F. 2002. “Proximate Causes and Underlying Driving Forces of Tropical Deforestation.” BioScience 52: 143–150.

Hansen, M. C., et al. 2013. “High-Resolution Global Maps of 21st-Century Forest Cover Change.” Science 342: 850–853.

Miteva, D. A., Pattanayak, S. K., and Ferraro, P. J. 2012. “Evaluation of Biodiversity Policy Instruments: What Works and What Doesn’t?” Oxford Review of Economic Policy 28: 69–92.

Pattanayak, S. K., Wunder, S., and Ferraro, P. J. 2010. “Show Me the Money: Do Payments Supply Environmental Services in Developing Countries?” Review of Environmental Economics and Policy 4, no. 2: 254–274.

Pfaff, A., Amacher, G. S., and Sills, E. O. 2013. “Realistic REDD: Improving the Forest Impacts of Domestic Policies in Different Settings.” Review of Environmental Economics and Policy 7: 114–135.

Rudel, T. K., et al. 2009. “Changing Drivers of Deforestation and New Opportunities for Conservation.” Conservation Biology 23, no. 6: 1396–1405.

The Center for Global Development is grateful for contributions from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation in support of this work.

[1] Hansen, M., et al. (2013). Science , 342:850–853.

[2] The full database of spatially explicit econometric studies of drivers of deforestation (the SEED Database) is available for free download at /doc/seed.xslx . We plan to update this database periodically as new studies that fit our inclusion criteria are published.

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How to tackle the global deforestation crisis

Imagine if France, Germany, and Spain were completely blanketed in forests — and then all those trees were quickly chopped down. That’s nearly the amount of deforestation that occurred globally between 2001 and 2020, with profound consequences.

Deforestation is a major contributor to climate change, producing between 6 and 17 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a 2009 study. Meanwhile, because trees also absorb carbon dioxide, removing it from the atmosphere, they help keep the Earth cooler. And climate change aside, forests protect biodiversity.

“Climate change and biodiversity make this a global problem, not a local problem,” says MIT economist Ben Olken. “Deciding to cut down trees or not has huge implications for the world.”

But deforestation is often financially profitable, so it continues at a rapid rate. Researchers can now measure this trend closely: In the last quarter-century, satellite-based technology has led to a paradigm change in charting deforestation. New deforestation datasets, based on the Landsat satellites, for instance, track forest change since 2000 with resolution at 30 meters, while many other products now offer frequent imaging at close resolution.

“Part of this revolution in measurement is accuracy, and the other part is coverage,” says Clare Balboni, an assistant professor of economics at the London School of Economics (LSE). “On-site observation is very expensive and logistically challenging, and you’re talking about case studies. These satellite-based data sets just open up opportunities to see deforestation at scale, systematically, across the globe.”

Balboni and Olken have now helped write a new paper providing a road map for thinking about this crisis. The open-access article, “ The Economics of Tropical Deforestation ,” appears this month in the Annual Review of Economics . The co-authors are Balboni, a former MIT faculty member; Aaron Berman, a PhD candidate in MIT’s Department of Economics; Robin Burgess, an LSE professor; and Olken, MIT’s Jane Berkowitz Carlton and Dennis William Carlton Professor of Microeconomics. Balboni and Olken have also conducted primary research in this area, along with Burgess.

So, how can the world tackle deforestation? It starts with understanding the problem.

Replacing forests with farms

Several decades ago, some thinkers, including the famous MIT economist Paul Samuelson in the 1970s, built models to study forests as a renewable resource; Samuelson calculated the “maximum sustained yield” at which a forest could be cleared while being regrown. These frameworks were designed to think about tree farms or the U.S. national forest system, where a fraction of trees would be cut each year, and then new trees would be grown over time to take their place.

But deforestation today, particularly in tropical areas, often looks very different, and forest regeneration is not common.

Indeed, as Balboni and Olken emphasize, deforestation is now rampant partly because the profits from chopping down trees come not just from timber, but from replacing forests with agriculture. In Brazil, deforestation has increased along with agricultural prices; in Indonesia, clearing trees accelerated as the global price of palm oil went up, leading companies to replace forests with palm tree orchards.

All this tree-clearing creates a familiar situation: The globally shared costs of climate change from deforestation are “externalities,” as economists say, imposed on everyone else by the people removing forest land. It is akin to a company that pollutes into a river, affecting the water quality of residents.

“Economics has changed the way it thinks about this over the last 50 years, and two things are central,” Olken says. “The relevance of global externalities is very important, and the conceptualization of alternate land uses is very important.” This also means traditional forest-management guidance about regrowth is not enough. With the economic dynamics in mind, which policies might work, and why?

The search for solutions

As Balboni and Olken note, economists often recommend “Pigouvian” taxes (named after the British economist Arthur Pigou) in these cases, levied against people imposing externalities on others. And yet, it can be hard to identify who is doing the deforesting.

Instead of taxing people for clearing forests, governments can pay people to keep forests intact. The UN uses Payments for Environmental Services (PES) as part of its REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) program. However, it is similarly tough to identify the optimal landowners to subsidize, and these payments may not match the quick cash-in of deforestation. A 2017 study in Uganda showed PES reduced deforestation somewhat; a 2022 study in Indonesia found no reduction; another 2022 study, in Brazil, showed again that some forest protection resulted.

“There’s mixed evidence from many of these [studies],” Balboni says. These policies, she notes, must reach people who would otherwise clear forests, and a key question is, “How can we assess their success compared to what would have happened anyway?”

Some places have tried cash transfer programs for larger populations. In Indonesia, a 2020 study found such subsidies reduced deforestation near villages by 30 percent. But in Mexico, a similar program meant more people could afford milk and meat, again creating demand for more agriculture and thus leading to more forest-clearing.

At this point, it might seem that laws simply banning deforestation in key areas would work best — indeed, about 16 percent of the world’s land overall is protected in some way. Yet the dynamics of protection are tricky. Even with protected areas in place, there is still “leakage” of deforestation into other regions. 

Still more approaches exist, including “nonstate agreements,” such as the Amazon Soy Moratorium in Brazil, in which grain traders pledged not to buy soy from deforested lands, and reduced deforestation without “leakage.”

Also, intriguingly, a 2008 policy change in the Brazilian Amazon made agricultural credit harder to obtain by requiring recipients to comply with environmental and land registration rules. The result? Deforestation dropped by up to 60 percent over nearly a decade. 

Politics and pulp

Overall, Balboni and Olken observe, beyond “externalities,” two major challenges exist. One, it is often unclear who holds property rights in forests. In these circumstances, deforestation seems to increase. Two, deforestation is subject to political battles.

For instance, as economist Bard Harstad of Stanford University has observed, environmental lobbying is asymmetric. Balboni and Olken write: “The conservationist lobby must pay the government in perpetuity … while the deforestation-oriented lobby need pay only once to deforest in the present.” And political instability leads to more deforestation because “the current administration places lower value on future conservation payments.”

Even so, national political measures can work. In the Amazon from 2001 to 2005, Brazilian deforestation rates were three to four times higher than on similar land across the border, but that imbalance vanished once the country passed conservation measures in 2006. However, deforestation ramped up again after a 2014 change in government. Looking at particular monitoring approaches, a study of Brazil’s satellite-based Real-Time System for Detection of Deforestation (DETER), launched in 2004, suggests that a 50 percent annual increase in its use in municipalities created a 25 percent reduction in deforestation from 2006 to 2016.

How precisely politics matters may depend on the context. In a 2021 paper, Balboni and Olken (with three colleagues) found that deforestation actually decreased around elections in Indonesia. Conversely, in Brazil, one study found that deforestation rates were 8 to 10 percent higher where mayors were running for re-election between 2002 and 2012, suggesting incumbents had deforestation industry support.

“The research there is aiming to understand what the political economy drivers are,” Olken says, “with the idea that if you understand those things, reform in those countries is more likely.”

Looking ahead, Balboni and Olken also suggest that new research estimating the value of intact forest land intact could influence public debates. And while many scholars have studied deforestation in Brazil and Indonesia, fewer have examined the Democratic Republic of Congo, another deforestation leader, and sub-Saharan Africa.

Deforestation is an ongoing crisis. But thanks to satellites and many recent studies, experts know vastly more about the problem than they did a decade or two ago, and with an economics toolkit, can evaluate the incentives and dynamics at play.

“To the extent that there’s ambuiguity across different contexts with different findings, part of the point of our review piece is to draw out common themes — the important considerations in determining which policy levers can [work] in different circumstances,” Balboni says. “That’s a fast-evolving area. We don’t have all the answers, but part of the process is bringing together growing evidence about [everything] that affects how successful those choices can be.”

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5 ways to stop deforestation in our food

In the time it takes to say ‘deforestation’, another chunk of forest the size of a football pitch is destroyed. That’s every two seconds, every single day.   

And the leading cause of this deforestation is food production: including the food we eat right here in the UK. Too often it’s causing deforestation and making the climate crisis worse. 

So it’s time to act. We need to fight for our forests.  We need to stop deforestation in our food.  

Recently, the UK Government has been considering new laws that could bring an end to our role in the destruction of amazing places like the Amazon. And nearly 60,000 of you spoke up! 

But they're not the only ones considering new laws to help protect the Amazon and stop global deforestation. Right now, the European Commission want to hear from as many people as possible - both within and outside of the EU - about what they need to do to halt the destruction of nature overseas. We need joined up action across countries to stop the demand for deforested land and protect our forests.

The more you know, the easier it is to make a difference. From understanding the main causes of deforestation to what can be done about it. Forests around the world are still being cut down to meet our ever-growing demand for food production and consumption. And it is much closer to home than you think—the food we eat here in the UK has direct links to the destruction of some of our most precious forests and places.

The truth is, most people simply don’t realise that the food we eat can be causing deforestation. If we’re going to change things, first of all we need everyone to know about the problem.  

So share our videos, talk to your family and friends and make sure everyone knows about the issue and what we stand to lose.  

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The planet is in peril, and it’s clear that we cannot restore it without transforming our food system. 

While we ultimately need the UK Government to end deforestation in our food, there’s lots we can all do right now to ease the pressure on our food system and try our best to eat more sustainably.  

With the help of our supporters we’re fighting for our forests – from our work on the ground to protect and restore one trillion trees around the world, to campaigning to fix our unsustainable food system so that everyone can eat without destroying our planet. 

Join WWF to be part of a growing movement of people around the world who want their voice to be heard. 

How Do We Reduce Greenhouse Gases?

To stop climate change , we need to stop the amount of greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide, from increasing. For the past 150 years, burning fossil fuels and cutting down forests, which naturally pull carbon dioxide out of the air, has caused greenhouse gas levels to increase. There are two main ways to stop the amount of greenhouse gases from increasing: we can stop adding them to the air, and we can increase the Earth’s ability to pull them out of the air.

This is called climate mitigation . There is not one single way to mitigate climate change. Instead, we will have to piece together many different solutions to stop the climate from warming. Below are descriptions of the main methods that we can use.

Many of these solutions are already being implemented in places around the world. Some can be tackled by individuals, such as using less energy, riding a bike instead of driving, driving an electric car, and switching to renewable energy. Other actions to mitigate climate change involve communities, regions, or nations working together to make changes, such as switching power plants from burning coal or gas to renewable energy and growing public transit.

Use less electricity.

Taking steps to use less electricity, especially when it comes from burning coal or gas, can take a big bite out of greenhouse gas emissions. Worldwide, electricity use is responsible for a quarter of all emissions. 

Some steps that you can take to use less electricity are simple and save money, like replacing incandescent light bulbs with LED bulbs that use less electricity, adding insulation to your home, and setting the thermostat lower in the winter and higher in the summer, especially when no one is home. There are also new technologies that help keep buildings energy efficient, such as glass that reflects heat, low-flow water fixtures, smart thermostats, and new air conditioning technology with refrigerants that don’t cause warming. In urban and suburban environments, green or cool roofs can limit the amount of heat that gets into buildings during hot days and help decrease the urban heat island effect .

Green roof on the Walter Reed Community Center in Arlington, VA, US Credit: Arlington County on Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0

Generate electricity without emissions.

Renewable energy sources include solar energy, geothermal energy, wind turbines, ocean wave and tidal energy, waste and biomass energy, and hydropower. Because they do not burn fossil fuels, these renewable energy sources do not release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere as they generate electricity. Nuclear energy also creates no greenhouse gas emissions, so it can be thought of as a solution to climate change. However, it does generate radioactive waste that needs long-term, secure storage.

Today, the amount of electricity that comes from renewable energy is growing. A few countries, such as Iceland and Costa Rica, now get nearly all of their electricity from renewable energy. In many other countries, the percentage of electricity from renewable sources is currently small (5 - 10%) but growing.

Wind turbines can be on land or in the ocean, where high winds are common. Credit: Nicholas Doherty on Unsplash

Shrink the footprint of food.

Today, about a fifth of global carbon emissions come from raising farm animals for meat. For example, as cattle digest food they burp, releasing methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, and their manure releases the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide. And forests, which take carbon dioxide out of the air, are often cut down so that cattle have space to graze.

Eating a diet that is mostly or entirely plant-based (such as vegetables, bread, rice, and beans) lowers emissions. According to the Drawdown Project , if half the population worldwide adopts a plant-rich diet by 2050, 65 gigatons of carbon dioxide would be kept out of the atmosphere over about 30 years. (For a sense of scale, 65 gigatons of carbon dioxide is nearly two-years-worth of recent emissions from fossil fuels and industry.) Reducing food waste can make an even larger impact, saving about 90 gigatons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere over 30 years.

Eating a plant-rich diet lowers greenhouse gas emissions. Credit: Victoria Shes on Unsplash

Travel without making greenhouse gases.

Most of the ways we have to get from place to place currently rely on fossil fuels: gasoline for vehicles and jet fuel for planes. Burning fossil fuels for transportation adds up to 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. We can reduce emissions by shifting to alternative technologies that either don’t need gasoline (like bicycles and electric cars) or don’t need as much (like hybrid cars). Using public transportation, carpooling, biking, and walking leads to fewer vehicles on the road and less greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Cities and towns can make it easier for people to lower greenhouse gas emissions by adding bus routes, bike paths, and sidewalks.

Electric bicycles can be a way to get around without burning gasoline. Credit: Karlis Dambrans/CC BY 2.0

Reduce household waste.

Waste we put in landfills releases greenhouse gases. Almost half the gas released by landfill waste is methane, which is an especially potent greenhouse gas. Landfills are, in fact, the third largest source of methane emissions in the U.S., behind natural gas/petroleum use and animals raised for food production (and their manure). In the U.S., each member of a household produces an average of 2 kg (4.4 lbs) of trash per day. That's 726 kg (1660 lbs) of trash per person per year! Conscious choices, including avoiding unnecessary purchases, buying secondhand, eliminating reliance on single-use containers, switching to reusable bags, bottles, and beverage cups, reducing paper subscriptions and mail in favor of digital options, recycling, and composting, can all help reduce household waste.     

Reduce emissions from industry.

Manufacturing, mining for raw materials, and dealing with the waste all take energy. Most of the products that we buy — everything from phones and TVs to clothing and shoes — are created in factories, which produce up to about 20% of the greenhouse gases emitted worldwide.

There are ways to decrease emissions from manufacturing. Using materials that aren’t made from fossil fuels and don’t release greenhouse gases is a good start. For example, cement releases carbon dioxide as it hardens, but there are alternative products that don’t create greenhouse gases. Similarly, bioplastics made from plants are an alternative to plastics that come from fossil fuels. Companies can also use renewable energy sources to power factories and ship the products that they create in fuel-saving cargo ships.

Take carbon dioxide out of the air.

Along with reducing the amount of carbon dioxide that we add to the air, we can also take action to increase the amount of carbon dioxide we take out of the air. The places where carbon dioxide is pulled out of the air are called carbon sinks. For example, planting trees, bamboo, and other plants increases the number of carbon sinks. Conserving forests, grasslands, peatlands, and wetlands, where carbon is held in plants and soils, protects existing carbon sinks. Farming methods such as planting cover crops and crop rotation keep soils healthy so that they are effective carbon sinks. There are also carbon dioxide removal technologies, which may be able to pull large amounts of greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere.

As the trees and other plants in a forest use sunlight to create the food they need, they are also pulling carbon dioxide out of the air. Credit: B NW on Unsplash

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• Solving Climate Change
• Why Earth Is Warming
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• What's Your Carbon Footprint?
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• Classroom Activity: Solving the Carbon Dioxide Problem
• Stabilization Wedges (Activity and Resources)

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Each day 70,000 acres of rainforest are lost to deforestation. that’s 1.2 acres per second., conservation action fund.

Your gift will allow us to take swift conservation action when and where it is needed most.

Each day, an area of rainforest about half the size of Chicago, is lost to deforestation.

Habitat relied upon by countless species is destroyed. The homes and livelihoods of millions of indigenous communities are threatened. Millions of tons of stored carbon are released, disrupting our already fragile climate.

This reckless destruction spotlights the importance of Rainforest Trust’s mission of over 30 years: to take the first, and most critical step in halting deforestation by working with local partners to safeguard tropical forests as protected areas.

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Healthy rainforests are critical to a healthy planet. Creating protected areas is the most effective way to prevent deforestation, safeguard biodiversity, keep carbon stored safely away, and maintain the health of all species on our planet. Join our mission and donate today.

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"The one process now going on that will take millions of years to correct is the loss of genetic and species diversity by the destruction of natural habitats. This is the folly our descendants are least likely to forgive us.” E. O. Wilson Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, and former Rainforest Trust Board Member

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What is climate change mitigation and why is it urgent?

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• Climate change mitigation involves actions to reduce or prevent greenhouse gas emissions from human activities.
• Mitigation efforts include transitioning to renewable energy sources, enhancing energy efficiency, adopting regenerative agricultural practices and protecting and restoring forests and critical ecosystems.
• Effective mitigation requires a whole-of-society approach and structural transformations to reduce emissions and limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
• International cooperation, for example through the Paris Agreement, is crucial in guiding and achieving global and national mitigation goals.
• Mitigation efforts face challenges such as the world's deep-rooted dependency on fossil fuels, the increased demand for new mineral resources and the difficulties in revamping our food systems.
• These challenges also offer opportunities to improve resilience and contribute to sustainable development.

What is climate change mitigation?

Climate change mitigation refers to any action taken by governments, businesses or people to reduce or prevent greenhouse gases, or to enhance carbon sinks that remove them from the atmosphere. These gases trap heat from the sun in our planet’s atmosphere, keeping it warm. 

Since the industrial era began, human activities have led to the release of dangerous levels of greenhouse gases, causing global warming and climate change. However, despite unequivocal research about the impact of our activities on the planet’s climate and growing awareness of the severe danger climate change poses to our societies, greenhouse gas emissions keep rising. If we can slow down the rise in greenhouse gases, we can slow down the pace of climate change and avoid its worst consequences.

Reducing greenhouse gases can be achieved by:

• Shifting away from fossil fuels : Fossil fuels are the biggest source of greenhouse gases, so transitioning to modern renewable energy sources like solar, wind and geothermal power, and advancing sustainable modes of transportation, is crucial.
• Improving energy efficiency : Using less energy overall – in buildings, industries, public and private spaces, energy generation and transmission, and transportation – helps reduce emissions. This can be achieved by using thermal comfort standards, better insulation and energy efficient appliances, and by improving building design, energy transmission systems and vehicles.
• Changing agricultural practices : Certain farming methods release high amounts of methane and nitrous oxide, which are potent greenhouse gases. Regenerative agricultural practices – including enhancing soil health, reducing livestock-related emissions, direct seeding techniques and using cover crops – support mitigation, improve resilience and decrease the cost burden on farmers.
• The sustainable management and conservation of forests : Forests act as carbon sinks , absorbing carbon dioxide and reducing the overall concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Measures to reduce deforestation and forest degradation are key for climate mitigation and generate multiple additional benefits such as biodiversity conservation and improved water cycles.
• Restoring and conserving critical ecosystems : In addition to forests, ecosystems such as wetlands, peatlands, and grasslands, as well as coastal biomes such as mangrove forests, also contribute significantly to carbon sequestration, while supporting biodiversity and enhancing climate resilience.
• Creating a supportive environment : Investments, policies and regulations that encourage emission reductions, such as incentives, carbon pricing and limits on emissions from key sectors are crucial to driving climate change mitigation.

Photo: Stephane Bellerose/UNDP Mauritius

Photo: La Incre and Lizeth Jurado/PROAmazonia

What is the 1.5°C goal and why do we need to stick to it?

In 2015, 196 Parties to the UN Climate Convention in Paris adopted the Paris Agreement , a landmark international treaty, aimed at curbing global warming and addressing the effects of climate change. Its core ambition is to cap the rise in global average temperatures to well below 2°C above levels observed prior to the industrial era, while pursuing efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C.

The 1.5°C goal is extremely important, especially for vulnerable communities already experiencing severe climate change impacts. Limiting warming below 1.5°C will translate into less extreme weather events and sea level rise, less stress on food production and water access, less biodiversity and ecosystem loss, and a lower chance of irreversible climate consequences.

To limit global warming to the critical threshold of 1.5°C, it is imperative for the world to undertake significant mitigation action. This requires a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent before 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by mid-century.

What are the policy instruments that countries can use to drive mitigation?

Everyone has a role to play in climate change mitigation, from individuals adopting sustainable habits and advocating for change to governments implementing regulations, providing incentives and facilitating investments. The private sector, particularly those businesses and companies responsible for causing high emissions, should take a leading role in innovating, funding and driving climate change mitigation solutions. 

International collaboration and technology transfer is also crucial given the global nature and size of the challenge. As the main platform for international cooperation on climate action, the Paris Agreement has set forth a series of responsibilities and policy tools for its signatories. One of the primary instruments for achieving the goals of the treaty is Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) . These are the national climate pledges that each Party is required to develop and update every five years. NDCs articulate how each country will contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhance climate resilience.   While NDCs include short- to medium-term targets, long-term low emission development strategies (LT-LEDS) are policy tools under the Paris Agreement through which countries must show how they plan to achieve carbon neutrality by mid-century. These strategies define a long-term vision that gives coherence and direction to shorter-term national climate targets.

Photo: Mucyo Serge/UNDP Rwanda

Photo: William Seal/UNDP Sudan

At the same time, the call for climate change mitigation has evolved into a call for reparative action, where high-income countries are urged to rectify past and ongoing contributions to the climate crisis. This approach reflects the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which advocates for climate justice, recognizing the unequal historical responsibility for the climate crisis, emphasizing that wealthier countries, having profited from high-emission activities, bear a greater obligation to lead in mitigating these impacts. This includes not only reducing their own emissions, but also supporting vulnerable countries in their transition to low-emission development pathways.

Another critical aspect is ensuring a just transition for workers and communities that depend on the fossil fuel industry and its many connected industries. This process must prioritize social equity and create alternative employment opportunities as part of the shift towards renewable energy and more sustainable practices.

For emerging economies, innovation and advancements in technology have now demonstrated that robust economic growth can be achieved with clean, sustainable energy sources. By integrating renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind and geothermal power into their growth strategies, these economies can reduce their emissions, enhance energy security and create new economic opportunities and jobs. This shift not only contributes to global mitigation efforts but also sets a precedent for sustainable development.

What are some of the challenges slowing down climate change mitigation efforts?

Mitigating climate change is fraught with complexities, including the global economy's deep-rooted dependency on fossil fuels and the accompanying challenge of eliminating fossil fuel subsidies. This reliance – and the vested interests that have a stake in maintaining it – presents a significant barrier to transitioning to sustainable energy sources.

The shift towards decarbonization and renewable energy is driving increased demand for critical minerals such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, and rare earth metals. Since new mining projects can take up to 15 years to yield output, mineral supply chains could become a bottleneck for decarbonization efforts. In addition, these minerals are predominantly found in a few, mostly low-income countries, which could heighten supply chain vulnerabilities and geopolitical tensions.

Furthermore, due to the significant demand for these minerals and the urgency of the energy transition, the scaled-up investment in the sector has the potential to exacerbate environmental degradation, economic and governance risks, and social inequalities, affecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and workers. Addressing these concerns necessitates implementing social and environmental safeguards, embracing circular economy principles, and establishing and enforcing responsible policies and regulations .

Agriculture is currently the largest driver of deforestation worldwide. A transformation in our food systems to reverse the impact that agriculture has on forests and biodiversity is undoubtedly a complex challenge. But it is also an important opportunity. The latest IPCC report highlights that adaptation and mitigation options related to land, water and food offer the greatest potential in responding to the climate crisis. Shifting to regenerative agricultural practices will not only ensure a healthy, fair and stable food supply for the world’s population, but also help to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  

Photo: UNDP India

Photo: Nino Zedginidze/UNDP Georgia

What are some examples of climate change mitigation?

In Mauritius , UNDP, with funding from the Green Climate Fund, has supported the government to install battery energy storage capacity that has enabled 50 MW of intermittent renewable energy to be connected to the grid, helping to avoid 81,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. 

In Indonesia , UNDP has been working with the government for over a decade to support sustainable palm oil production. In 2019, the country adopted a National Action Plan on Sustainable Palm Oil, which was collaboratively developed by government, industry and civil society representatives. The plan increased the adoption of practices to minimize the adverse social and environmental effects of palm oil production and to protect forests. Since 2015, 37 million tonnes of direct greenhouse gas emissions have been avoided and 824,000 hectares of land with high conservation value have been protected.

In Moldova and Paraguay , UNDP has helped set up Green City Labs that are helping build more sustainable cities. This is achieved by implementing urban land use and mobility planning, prioritizing energy efficiency in residential buildings, introducing low-carbon public transport, implementing resource-efficient waste management, and switching to renewable energy sources. 

UNDP has supported the governments of Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Indonesia to implement results-based payments through the REDD+ (Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries) framework. These include payments for environmental services and community forest management programmes that channel international climate finance resources to local actors on the ground, specifically forest communities and Indigenous Peoples. 

UNDP is also supporting small island developing states like the Comoros to invest in renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure. Through the Africa Minigrids Program , solar minigrids will be installed in two priority communities, Grand Comore and Moheli, providing energy access through distributed renewable energy solutions to those hardest to reach.

And in South Africa , a UNDP initative to boost energy efficiency awareness among the general population and improve labelling standards has taken over commercial shopping malls.

What is UNDP’s role in supporting climate change mitigation?

UNDP aims to assist countries with their climate change mitigation efforts, guiding them towards sustainable, low-carbon and climate-resilient development. This support is in line with achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those related to affordable and clean energy (SDG7), sustainable cities and communities (SDG11), and climate action (SDG13). Specifically, UNDP’s offer of support includes developing and improving legislation and policy, standards and regulations, capacity building, knowledge dissemination, and financial mobilization for countries to pilot and scale-up mitigation solutions such as renewable energy projects, energy efficiency initiatives and sustainable land-use practices. 

With financial support from the Global Environment Facility and the Green Climate Fund, UNDP has an active portfolio of 94 climate change mitigation projects in 69 countries. These initiatives are not only aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but also at contributing to sustainable and resilient development pathways.

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