Forests Can Mitigate the Climate Crisis but They Remain Threatened

Forests play a crucial role in mitigating the climate crisis because they can absorb the pollution responsible for global warming, known as greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). Unfortunately, the world's forest cover continues to shrink year after year.

Forests help control the climate crisis by absorbing GHG emissions released by human activities into the atmosphere. In essence, the less GHG emissions present in the atmosphere, the less solar heat is trapped on Earth.

Forests are estimated to absorb up to 7.6 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide (a form of GHG emissions), which is 1.5 times larger than the annual emissions of the United States. Peatlands deserve special attention because they can sequester twice as much carbon as all the world's forests combined.

Forests are also home to a wide variety of flora, fauna, and even indigenous communities. Preserving forests means safeguarding the livelihood of all living beings.

Regrettably, forests worldwide continue to diminish. Since 1990, the world has lost 420 million hectares of forest, equivalent to 2.5 times the size of Indonesia. In just 2021, the world lost approximately 25.3 million hectares of forest, equivalent to 2.5 times the size of Portugal.

Deforestation, or forest clearance, is highly detrimental because it depletes the Earth's capacity to absorb GHG emissions. Furthermore, deforestation itself can directly release GHG emissions into the atmosphere (for example, when forests are cleared by burning).