Forests of promise and hope during COP26
It will probably not have escaped your notice that a climate summit is going on in Glasgow. At the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference, more than 100 countries are negotiating future climate policies. The decisions taken here will determine whether or not the Paris climate target is achieved: a maximum of 2 degrees warming with a view to 1.5 degrees. As tree lovers, we are very pleased to hear that there is a lot of attention in Glasgow for combating deforestation and restoring and preserving natural ecosystems [1].
Forest of promises
The leaders of the countries that come together at COP26 always make a number of statements at the beginning about the themes they are all going to work on. The statement about forests and land use contains a number of great promises, such as:
"We therefore commit to working collectively to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030 while delivering sustainable development and promoting an inclusive rural transformation" [2]
No more deforestation in 2030!? A wonderful and ambitious statement at the start of the negotiations... let's hope it is just as firmly implemented in the final statement.
Forest of hope
Our hope is that this 'forest of promises' will lead to powerful and impactful agreements. In any case, there are all kinds of 'side events' with a lot of positivity. For example, it is highly recommended to watch the various live streams with inspiring topics related to sustainability. Our favourite initiative is the Forest of Hope: on the Beldorney estate in Scotland, Climate Action is working with Highlands Rewilding to create a COP26 Forest of Hope. The aim is to create a forest of hope at each subsequent climate summit [3].
As we wrote in our blog about the forests in Flevoland, a bare piece of land can quickly grow into a forest of size. Fortunately, the resilience of nature is extremely strong. In 9 years, the Scottish Forest of Hope will really start to look like a forest. The photo below shows how big a nine-year-old giant sequoia can be. How nice is it to follow that process up close? If you now plant a Treemore tree, you can see it grow up close into a tree of size. We can say from experience: it just gets more fun! Who do you give a present with a future?
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