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But green groups say the importance of carbon-storing forests in curbing global warming is being overlooked by many nations — especially in their climate funding — with limited progress on transforming economies to become deforestation-free. Cutting down forests has major implications for global goals to curb climate change, as trees absorb about a third of carbon emissions produced worldwide, which they release if they rot or are burned.
All emissions reduction scenarios that limit warming to 1.5°C “depend on urgently ending and reversing this destruction of the rainforest”, he added.Forests sequester more than 7-billion tonnes of carbon dioxide annually — 1.5 times more than that pumped out by the US, the world’s second-largest emitter, said Danny Marks, assistant professor of environmental politics and policy at Dublin City University.“If we want to address climate change, we need to stop deforestation,” said Marks.
It is also cost-effective as it does not require expensive or unproven technology like carbon capture and storage for reducing emissions from industrial processes, he added. Private donors last month pledged a record $5bn to help safeguard the planet’s plants, animals and ecosystems. The people of Guyana’s South Rupununi region are already experiencing worsening climate-change impacts — such as flooding and heatwaves — said Immaculata Casimero, co-founder of the Wapichan Wiizi Women's Movement, a local advocacy group.