The University of Earth: Urgent Action Series: COP 21 Paris 2015: Charles, Prince of Wales, International Sustainability Unit, Restoration of Forests.
“Understanding the many praiseworthy achievements, I earnestly hope that the hours ahead, will also see the announcement of new ambitious initiatives and partnerships across sectors, communities and regions. Accelerated action to reduce deforestation and degradation and to restore forests, is needed now, more than ever.
Mahatma Gandhi once wrote; What we are doing to the forests in the world is a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another. How right he was and how pertinent the remarks is in 2015. Despite all our efforts, we continue to deplete our forests of the world with profoundly negative consequences for our well being and for the planet at large, including, most importantly on the occasion of COP 21 is climate.
Yesterday, I was heartened to see the statement by political leaders on the importance of forests and the announcement of ongoing domestic action and the international support for forest conservation efforts around the world. That forests are featuring so prominently at the outset of the COP is, I hope, the encouragement for governments, organisations, and communities present today. I very much doubt that in a room filled with so many international forest experts and policymakers and a few others, that you need me to set out the importance of forests on so many fronts, whether climatic, cultural, intrinsic or biological. Suffice it to say, that scientific advances are continuing to increase our understanding of the critical forest make to all of our lives, adding to a sense of deep peril we will encounter should the destruction continue, and perversely, we persist in going on literally testing the world to destruction.”
He also discusses:
- Indigenous forest people
- The transformation of global commodity supply chains
- Forest landscape restoration