In October 2018, leading climate scientists with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned the international community that it has only a 12-year window within which to act on climate change. The scientists said that swift measures must be taken to keep mean global temperatures to a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. If not, as much as half a degree increase will dramatically accelerate the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty worldwide.
GLF Bonn 2018, was held under the shadow of this warning. Human activities have led to substantial land degradation – of an area roughly the size of South America – posing a major threat to climate resilience, biodiversity, livelihoods and food security. Forests and landscape restoration can help prevent global warming. When forests are cut down, vast amounts of carbon are released into the atmosphere. Through landscape restoration, large amounts of carbon can be stored, and planet-warming emissions reduced. This is considered an inexpensive and economically advantageous way to fight climate change. Landscape level activities that effectively manage ecosystems can facilitate the achievement of various international development targets, including the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, the New York Declaration on Forests, the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and the U.N. Paris Agreement on climate change.
GLF Bonn 2018 aimed to spark action to accelerate and mobilize collective action. We know the changes we must make, and the time to change is now. We must go beyond pledges and commitments and spur collective action on securing a more sustainable future for life on this planet. Rather than business-as-usual scenarios, delegates recognized that they must pursue green development pathways.
Read the report to find out more.
