Root and branch reform: if carbon markets aren’t working, how do we save our forests?

The world has looked to offsetting schemes to protect forests, fund conservation and fight the climate crisis - but many fail to fulfil their promises. Here are five ways to keep our forests standing

Keeping the world's remaining forests standing is one of the most important environmental challenges of the 21st century. Humanity will not limit global heating to safe levels or stem the ongoing loss of wildlife without them. From the boreal forest that stretches around northern Europe, Siberia and Canada, to the Amazon, Earth's forests are some of the most biodiverse places on the planet, home to species found nowhere else.

Yet all too often, forests are worth more money dead than alive - despite promises from global leaders to halt deforestation. Their exploitation has pushed many plants, animals and fungi to the brink of extinction, while slowly degrading their ability to generate rainfall, sequester carbon and cool the planet.