‘Don’t fool yourself’: billions more needed to protect tropical forests, warns new report

Money could come from carbon markets, donor countries and philanthropists, but radical action is also needed from legislators

At least $130bn (100bn) a year is needed to protect the most at-risk areas of tropical forest by the end of the decade, alongside reductions in beef and dairy consumption and government bans on deforestation, a thinktank has warned.

From the Amazon to the Siberian taiga, financing dedicated to forests must be rapidly scaled up if governments are to meet their target of halting and reversing deforestation by the end of this decade, a nonbinding aim agreed by more than 140 world leaders at Cop26 in 2021, which is crucial to limiting global heating well below 2C and halting biodiversity loss.