Indonesia reduces deforestation, triggering results-based Norwegian aid
21/2/2019: Norway has announced that it will provide the first results-based payment to Indonesia as part of its REDD+ agreement. Indonesia was one of the few tropical nations to reduce its deforestation rates in 2017. Source: World Resources Institute
To fight deforestation first tackle inequality, study says
8/2/2019: Agriculture is the leading cause of tropical forest loss in Latin America. A recent study now shows that the best way to tackle deforestation in the region is to reduce inequality.
Source: Mongabay
Asian banks give billions to firms linked to deforestation
5/2/2019: Industries that cause the loss of rainforest and peatlands in Southeast Asia were bankrolled to the tune of $62 billion between 2013 and 2018, according to new data released by the Forests and Finance campaign of the Rainforest Action Network. Source: Mongabay
France pledges to stop ‘deforestation imports’ by 2030
1/2/2019: The French government has adopted a national strategy to combat unsustainable imports known to be key drivers of deforestation. Pressure is growing on the European Union to take tougher action.
Source: Mongabay
The African development model: clone of Asia?
31/1/2019: Labour-intensive export-led industrialisation worked for China, but Africa is not China. It must come up with its own strategies to reduce poverty.
Source: African Arguments
World’s three biggest rainforests face year of precarious politics
28/1/2019: Recent leadership changes in Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and presidential elections in Indonesia this April, are fuelling political uncertainty over the fate of the world’s three biggest rainforests. Source: Climate Home News
Rainforests: storylines to watch in 2019
2/1/2019: 2018 wasn’t a great year for tropical rainforests, with major setbacks in Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo and Madagascar coming on top of back-to-back years of high forest cover loss. Here are ten storylines to follow in 2019. Source: Mongabay
Globalization 4.0 for Whom?
19/12/2018: The elites gathering in Davos next month have yet to acknowledge the need for a new approach to governing the global economy. The neoliberal model of race-to-the-bottom competition has resulted in rising inequality and political discontent. Source: Project Syndicate
World’s largest palm oil trader gives forest destroyers nowhere to hide
10/12/2018: The world’s largest palm oil trader, Wilmar International, has published a detailed action plan to map and monitor all of its suppliers. Eliminating deforestation from its supply chain would have a major impact on the rest of the industry.
Source: Greenpeace International
COP24: Tropical deforestation risks undermining 1.5-degree warming limit
13/12/2018: Of the six countries that account for the greatest expanses of tropical rainforest, only Indonesia is on track to reduce its current rate of deforestation by 2030. The others — Brazil, DRC, Colombia, Peru and Myanmar — are off target. Source: Mongabay