COP26: More Than 100 Nations To Sign Deal To Halt Deforestation

Wiping out forests depletes what experts call "carbon sinks", which contributes to climate change.

Image used for representational purpose.

(Photo: iStock)

More than a hundred heads of states are expected to sign the first consequential deal of the COP26 on Tuesday, 2 November, in which they will vow to end and reverse deforestation by the year 2030, BBC reported.

The deal will be part of a multibillion-dollar package that would aim to tackle the issue of man-made greenhouse gas emissions.

Xi Jinping of China, Joe Biden of the United States (US), and Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil are some of the big names in Glasgow that will sign the contract to conserve massive swathes of forests ranging from Siberia to Congo.

Cutting down trees and wiping out forests depletes what experts call "carbon sinks", that is, reservoirs that absorb carbon dioxide, thereby reducing their concentration in the atmosphere. Vegetation and oceans are the two most important forms of a carbon sink.

Almost 25 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions can be traced back to the clearing of land whose first step is often deforestation.

Massive chunks of Amazon rainforests have been felled in the recent past, and Brazil's signature on the contract is being eagerly anticipated.

The contract includes almost $19.2 billion of public and private funds, The Guardian reported.

Experts, while welcoming the deal, warned that a similar 2014 deal had absolutely "failed to slow deforestation."

United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is also the co-organiser of COP26, believes that this deal is a "landmark agreement to protect and restore the earth's forests", The Guardian added.

(With inputs from BBC and The Guardian.)