Context

• At Leaders’ Summit on Climate, LEAF Coalition, came up with a $1 billion fund plan that shall be offered to countries committed to arrest the decline of their tropical forests by 2030.

 

About LEAF Coalition plan:

• LEAF Coalition’s proposal is a step forward in saving forests, indigenous peoples.
• It is a collective of the United States, United Kingdom and Norway governments.
• LEAF was supported by transnational corporations (TNCs) like Unilever plc, Amazon.com, Inc, Nestle, Airbnb, Inc as well as Emergent, a US-based non-profit.
• It is a step towards concretising the aims and objectives of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) mechanism.
  • REDD+ was created by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
  • REDD+ monetised the value of carbon locked up in the tropical forests of most developing countries, thereby propelling these countries to help mitigate climate change.
• Such a financial impetus is crucial as it incentivises developing countries to capture extensive deforestation and provide livelihood opportunities to forest-dependent populations.
• A country willing to participate would need to fulfil certain predetermined conditions laid down by the Coalition.
• It seeks to help developing countries in battling the double-edged sword of development versus ecological commitment.

 

Why this initiative is crucial?

• The tropics have lost close to 12.2 million hectares (mha) of tree cover year last year according to global estimates released by Global Forest Watch, an independent monitoring platform.
• Tropical forests are massive carbon sinks and by investing in their protection, public and private players are likely to stock up on their carbon credits.
• Most of these lost forests were located in the developing countries of Latin America, Africa and South Asia.

 

Deforestation in India:

• India’s estimated loss in 2020 stands at 20.8 kilo hectares.
• India has adopted a lackadaisical attitude towards deforestation-induced climate change.
• This year India, witnessed massive forest fires in early months of the year in states like Odisha, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram among others.
• The European Union's Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service claimed that 0.2 metric tonnes of carbon was emitted in the Uttarakhand forest fires.

 

What leading to deforestation?

• According to the UN-REDD programme, after the energy sector, deforestation accounts for massive carbon emissions — close to 11 per cent — in the atmosphere.
• Rapid urbanisation and commercialisation of forest produce are the main causes behind rampant deforestation across tropical forest.

 

Forest and indigenous tribes

• Policy makers around the world have emphasised the role of indigenous tribes and local communities in checking deforestation.
• These communities understand the need to protect forests as their survival and livelihood is dependent on forest.
• But the governments of developing countries swiftly avoid protection of forests and rights of forest dwellers.

 

Rights of forest dwellers in India

• Government of India has not been forthcoming in recognising the socio-economic, civil, political or even cultural rights of forest dwellers.
• According to data from the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs, over 55 per cent of the tribal population has still not been granted either individual or community ownership of their lands even in 2020.
• Proposed amendments to the obsolete Indian Forest Act, 1927 aim to give forest officials the power to take away forest dwellers’ rights and to even use firearms with impunity.
• Although India has pledged to carry out its REDD+ commitments, it is impossible to do so without seeking knowledge from its forest dwelling population.

 

Significance of this plan:

• Implementation of this plan will help pump in fresh rigour among developing countries like India, that are reluctant to recognise the contributions of their forest dwelling populations in mitigating climate change.

 

What can be done now?

• The first step is recognition of land rights.
• The second step is the recognition of the contributions of local communities and indigenous communities, meaning the contributions of indigenous peoples.
• Recognition of traditional knowledge practices in order to fight climate change.

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/forests/leaf-coalition-s-proposal-is-a-step-forward-in-saving-forests-indigenous-peoples-77745