COP30 Presidency Unveils Roadmap to Halt and Reverse Deforestation by 2030 at COP31

At a packed session on the opening day of COP31 in Antalya, the COP30 Presidency outlined pathways to accelerate forest conservation, restoration, and sustainable use

The COP30 Presidency launched the COP30 Presidency Roadmap on Enhancing Efforts Towards Halting and Reversing Deforestation and Forest Degradation by 2030 on Monday, November 9, during COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye. The document outlines pathways to accelerate forest conservation, sustainable use, and restoration, helping translate into concrete action the commitment made by countries in the first Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement, adopted by consensus at COP28 in Dubai.

The session was led by COP30 President Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, who emphasized the importance of multilateralism for the forest agenda, which brings together different institutions, international instruments, and levels of governance. Speaking to a packed room, the ambassador explained that the document brings together and organizes existing knowledge and efforts to advance implementation of the commitment made by countries. “Once this commitment is part of the Global Stocktake, adopted by consensus, we can begin implementing it because we have a mandate,” he said.

At the conclusion of COP30 in 2025, the Brazilian Presidency took on the challenge of developing this Roadmap. The document is not subject to negotiation. Instead, it offers voluntary, non-prescriptive contributions to address the world's second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions.

Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), highlighted the broad participation of stakeholders in developing the document. The process received more than 180 contributions from countries, observer organizations, and other stakeholders, along with consultations with representatives working on forests, climate, biodiversity, and land use.

Forests play essential roles in maintaining climate stability, regulating water cycles, supporting biodiversity and food systems, and sustaining the livelihoods of millions of people. “We need to go further and faster. In this era of implementation, that means turning existing commitments into results in the real economy and in people's lives,” he said.

According to the latest Global Forest Resources Assessment by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), an average of approximately 10.9 million hectares of forest are lost to deforestation worldwide each year. Climate change is increasing forests' vulnerability to degradation caused by fires, droughts, diseases, and other disturbances. “Brazil has shown the world what determined action can achieve,” said FAO representative Kaveh Zahedi at the event. “This is an inspiring achievement that underpins Brazil's leadership on the Roadmap.”

SCIENCE AND CLIMATE JUSTICE — Former Brazilian Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Marina Silva emphasized that the launch represents progress in translating global commitments into action. She stressed that the two Roadmaps presented by the COP30 Presidency —on forests and fossil fuels— must advance in a coordinated manner. “These two Roadmaps must move forward together, guided by science, planning, finance, and climate justice,” she said.

According to Silva, each country must develop its own pathway, respecting its sovereignty and national circumstances, while building on common foundations for international cooperation. These include recognizing the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, valuing their territories and knowledge, and engaging governments, businesses, and the financial sector.

The former minister also called for the contributions presented in both Roadmaps to be incorporated into the second Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement, alongside the Global Ethical Stocktake conducted in 2025 and scientific assessments by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The Forests Roadmap organizes action into five areas: conservation; sustainable forest management, agroforestry, and the bioeconomy; reducing forest degradation; reducing deforestation; and restoration, reforestation, and afforestation.

“WE ARE THE ANSWER” — The importance of directing financial resources toward forest conservation was a central theme in the remarks by Martin Krauss, Director of Climate Change at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). “For every dollar spent on forests, almost five go to agricultural subsidies that can harm them. We are not just underfunding forests. We are paying to lose them,” he said.

The UNEP representative noted that global forest finance totaled $84 billion in 2023 but needs to reach $300 billion annually by 2030. “The money exists, but it is flowing in the wrong direction,” he said.

Brazil's Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Eloy Terena, called for climate finance to reach Indigenous territories directly, recognizing their fundamental role in forest protection. According to the minister, less than 1% of global climate finance reaches Indigenous Peoples.

Terena also proposed that the work initiated through the Roadmap continue through COP32, with the development of an Indigenous Roadmap bringing together initiatives, proposals, and solutions grounded in the experiences of Indigenous Peoples.

The event concluded with the perspective of those who have the most to gain from forest conservation: children. Luna Manchinere, a 10-year-old Indigenous girl from the Manchinere people, emphasized the need for countries to make progress in the formal recognition and demarcation of Indigenous lands.

“Who will defend the Amazon and Brazil in 2050?” she asked. Luna answered her own question, noting that she will be 34 years old in 2050 and hopes to continue living in the forest alongside her friends. “We Indigenous children also have a voice, and we risk not having a living territory for our future. We are the answer.”

Watch the full session (English only)