JAMAICA | PNP Endorses the Glasgow Declaration on Forests and Land Use

KINGSTON, November 4, 2021:-  The People’s National Party, Shadow Minister of Land, Environment and Climate Change, Sophia Frazer-Binns,  says she fully supports the 'Action on Forests and Land Use' declaration. The Action brings together an unprecedented coalition of governments, businesses, financial actors, and non-state actors to raise the bar on forest and land-use goals.

A statement from the PNP this morning, said "these commitments cited in the Declaration could essentially fund a halt in devastation of our forests including mangroves and the Cockpit Country. Additionally, they recognize the innate responsibility and traditions which our maroons have long upheld in protecting the Cockpit Country.'

The PNP said it "takes particular note of the following commitments:"

●      Over 100 leaders of countries with more than 86% of the world’s forests, committed to working together to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030.

●      12 donor countries have pledged to provide $12 billion (£8.75 billion) of public climate finance from 2021 to 2025. This will support action in developing countries, including restoring degraded land, tackling wildfires and advancing the rights of Indigenous Peoples like our Maroons as well as local communities adversely affected by mining.

●      14 country and philanthropic donors also pledged at least $1.7 billion from 2021 to 2025 to advance the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities to forest tenure and support their role as guardians of forests and nature.

●      In addition, at least £5.3 billion ($7.2 billion) of private sector funding has been mobilized.

●      CEOs from more than 30 financial institutions with over $8.7 trillion of global assets have committed to eliminate investment in activities linked to commodity driven deforestation, alongside the billions of private finance mobilized to support the forest economy.

●      The Lowering of Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance (LEAF) Coalition exceeded its own target of mobilizing $1 billion in public-private commitments. LEAF will provide financing to tropical and subtropical countries that successfully reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation. 

This action by world leaders reinforces our call for absolutely NO mining in the cockpit country and the creation of a buffer zone to further protect our forests, our Maroons and their way of life as well as the lives and livelihoods of rural communities. 

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