Our Forest and Land Use Programme has two goals: halting tropical deforestation and promoting reforestation and landscape restoration. We support efforts that raise the value of sustainable forests. Our support covers the entire equatorial greenbelt of tropical forests, including the Amazon basin, Congo Basin, and Indonesia.
Deforestation worldwide accounts for more than 10% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Stopping deforestation, therefore, is critical to lowering overall CO2 emissions and mitigating climate change. Agricultural expansion is the primary driver of tropical deforestation. Infrastructure development, mining, and timber extraction are also significant threats to forests.
We work to reduce these pressures by focusing on opportunities for sustainable commodities and promoting market-based incentives to leave forests standing. We also work to promote reforestation and restoration of degraded lands, using their potential to absorb significant amounts of carbon and increase the livelihood options for local communities.
We believe, in the long run, when protection and restoration are achieved through businesses or other market-based mechanisms, the changes are more sustainable.
We work in alignment with the Climate and Land Use Alliance.