GLASGOW LEADERS’ DECLARATION ON FORESTS AND LAND USE

We, the leaders of the countries identified below:

Emphasise the critical and interdependent roles of forests of all types, biodiversity and sustainable land use in enabling the world to meet its sustainable development goals; to help achieve a balance between anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and removal by sinks; to adapt to climate change; and to maintain other ecosystem services.

Reaffirm our respective commitments, collective and individual, to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, the Sustainable Development Goals; and other relevant initiatives.

Reaffirm our respective commitments to sustainable land use, and to the conservation, protection, sustainable management and restoration of forests, and other terrestrial ecosystems.

Recognise that to meet our land use, climate, biodiversity and sustainable development goals, both globally and nationally, will require transformative further action in the interconnected areas of sustainable production and consumption; infrastructure development; trade; finance and investment; and support for smallholders, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities, who depend on forests for their livelihoods and have a key role in their stewardship.

Highlight the areas of strong progress in recent years and the opportunities before us to accelerate action.

We therefore commit to working collectively to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030 while delivering sustainable development and promoting an inclusive rural transformation.

We will strengthen our shared efforts to:

1. Conserve forests and other terrestrial ecosystems and accelerate their restoration;

2. Facilitate trade and development policies, internationally and domestically, that promote sustainable development, and sustainable commodity production and consumption, that work to countries’ mutual benefit, and that do not drive deforestation and land degradation;

3. Reduce vulnerability, build resilience and enhance rural livelihoods, including through empowering communities, the development of profitable, sustainable agriculture, and recognition of the multiple values of forests, while recognising the rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as local communities, in accordance with relevant national legislation and international instruments, as appropriate;

4. Implement and, if necessary, redesign agricultural policies and programmes to incentivise sustainable agriculture, promote food security, and benefit the environment;

5. Reaffirm international financial commitments and significantly increase finance and investment from a wide variety of public and private sources, while also improving its effectiveness and accessibility, to enable sustainable agriculture, sustainable forest management, forest conservation and restoration, and support for Indigenous Peoples and local communities;

6. Facilitate the alignment of financial flows with international goals to reverse forest loss and degradation, while ensuring robust policies and systems are in place to accelerate the transition to an economy that is resilient and advances forest, sustainable land use, biodiversity and climate goals.

We urge all leaders to join forces in a sustainable land use transition. This is essential to meeting the Paris Agreement goals, including reducing vulnerability to the impacts of climate change and holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C, noting that the science shows further acceleration of efforts is needed if we are to collectively keep 1.5°C within reach. Together we can succeed in fighting climate change, delivering resilient and inclusive growth, and halting and reversing forest loss and land degradation.

1. Albania

2. Andorra

3. Angola

4. Argentina

5. Armenia

6. Australia

7. Austria

8. Belgium

9. Belize

10. Bhutan

11. Bosnia and Herzegovina

12. Botswana

13. Brazil

14. Brunei Darussalam

15. Bulgaria

16. Burkina Faso

17. Cameroon

18. Canada

19. Central African Republic

20. Chad

21. Chile

22. China

23. Colombia

24. Costa Rica

25. Côte d’Ivoire

26. Croatia

27. Cyprus

28. Czech Republic

29. Denmark

30. Dominican Republic

31. Democratic Republic of the Congo

32. Ecuador

33. Estonia

34. Eswatini

35. European Commission on behalf of the European Union

36. Fiji

37. Finland

38. France

39. Gabon

40. Georgia

41. Germany

42. Ghana

43. Greece

44. Grenada

45. Guatemala

46. Guinea Bissau

47. Guyana

48. Honduras

49. Hungary

50. Iceland

51. Indonesia

52. Ireland

53. Israel

54. Italy

55. Japan

56. Kazakhstan

57. Kenya

58. Kyrgyzstan

59. Latvia

60. Lebanon

61. Liberia

62. Liechtenstein

63. Lithuania

64. Luxembourg

65. Madagascar

66. Malawi

67. Mali

68. Malta

69. Mauritius

70. Mexico

71. Moldova

72. Monaco

73. Mongolia

74. Montenegro

75. Morocco

76. Mozambique

77. Nepal

78. Netherlands

79. New Zealand

80. Niger

81. Nigeria

82. North Macedonia

83. Norway

84. Pakistan

85. Panama

86. Papua New Guinea

87. Peru

88. Philippines

89. Poland

90. Portugal

91. Republic of the Congo

92. Romania

93. Russia

94. Saint Lucia

95. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

96. Samoa

97. San Marino

98. Sao Tome and Principe

99. Senegal

100. Seychelles

101. Sierra Leone

102. Slovakia

103. Slovenia

104. Somalia

105. South Korea

106. Spain

107. Sri Lanka

108. Suriname

109. Sweden

110. Switzerland

111. Syria

112. Tanzania

113. Togo

114. Tonga

115. Turkey

116. Ukraine

117. United Arab Emirates

118. United Kingdom

119. United States of America

120. Uruguay

121. Vanuatu

122. Vietnam

123. Zambia

124. Zimbabwe

2nd November 2021 (20.30