Protecting Forests, Protecting Our Climate

Forest for Climate is an environmental information and advocacy platform dedicated to raising awareness about the critical role tropical forests play in regulating the Earth's climate. Founded on the principle that protecting forests is one of the most cost-effective strategies for mitigating climate change, the platform compiles research, news, and policy analysis about deforestation, forest conservation, and international climate negotiations.

The organization focuses particularly on the REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) mechanism, which provides financial incentives to developing countries that protect their forests. This approach recognizes that deforestation and forest degradation account for approximately 10-15% of global greenhouse gas emissions — making forest protection an indispensable component of any serious climate strategy.

Forest for Climate tracks developments in international forums such as the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), monitors government policies in key forest nations like Indonesia and Brazil, and highlights the work of indigenous communities and conservation organizations on the frontlines of forest protection.

Through its research and advocacy, the platform aims to inform policymakers, researchers, activists, and the general public about the most effective strategies for preserving the world's remaining tropical forests while ensuring that forest-dependent communities benefit equitably from conservation efforts.

Tropical forests are among the most powerful carbon sinks on Earth, storing enormous quantities of carbon dioxide in their biomass — trees, roots, soil, and understory vegetation. A comprehensive scientific assessment found that tropical forests across Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia stored approximately 247 gigatons of carbon in the early 2000s, equivalent to more than 30 years' worth of current global fossil fuel emissions. This makes them irreplaceable assets in humanity's effort to avoid dangerous climate change.

When tropical forests are cleared or degraded — whether for agriculture, timber, or infrastructure — this stored carbon is released back into the atmosphere as CO₂, accelerating global warming. Conversely, when forests are protected and allowed to regenerate, they continue absorbing carbon from the atmosphere, functioning as natural carbon capture and storage systems that complement technological approaches to emissions reduction.

Beyond carbon storage, tropical forests regulate regional weather patterns by releasing moisture through transpiration, creating the rainfall cycles that agriculture across multiple continents depends upon. They are home to more than half of the world's terrestrial species, providing irreplaceable biodiversity that underpins ecosystem stability and human food security. Forests also prevent soil erosion, regulate river flows, and provide livelihoods for hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

The economics of forest conservation are compelling: protecting existing forests is generally far cheaper than deploying equivalent amounts of carbon capture technology, yet forests often attract insufficient investment because their ecosystem services are not priced in conventional markets. This market failure is precisely what mechanisms like REDD+ are designed to address.

REDD+ stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, with the plus sign denoting additional elements including sustainable management of forests, conservation of forest carbon stocks, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks. It is an international climate policy mechanism developed under the UNFCCC framework that creates financial incentives for developing countries to protect their forests rather than clear them for economic development.

The mechanism works by establishing baselines for each participating country's deforestation rates and carbon emissions from forests. Countries that reduce deforestation below these reference levels receive payments from developed nations or the private sector, compensating them for the economic opportunity costs of leaving forests standing. These payments recognize that forested lands have significant economic value as carbon stores, watershed protection systems, and biodiversity reservoirs — not just as timber or agricultural land.

For REDD+ to function effectively, countries must develop robust monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems that can accurately track forest cover changes using remote sensing, ground-based measurements, and community monitoring. They must also establish safeguards to protect the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, ensure biodiversity conservation, and prevent activities that simply shift deforestation to other areas.

Despite its promise, REDD+ implementation has faced significant challenges, including inadequate financing, weak governance in forest-rich countries, difficulties in setting accurate baselines, concerns about permanence (forests protected today could still be cleared in the future), and ensuring that benefits reach forest communities rather than being captured by political elites. Addressing these challenges is central to the work of organizations like Forest for Climate.

Indonesia holds one of the world's largest remaining areas of tropical rainforest, making its deforestation rates critically important for global climate stability. The country's greenhouse gas emissions from land use, land-use change, and forestry have historically ranked among the highest in the world — the third largest nationally after only the United States and China when measured during periods of peak deforestation and forest fires. Much of this stems from the clearing of peatland forests, which store vastly more carbon per hectare than mineral soils.

Indonesian peatlands, primarily on the islands of Sumatra, Kalimantan (Borneo), and Papua, represent some of the world's most carbon-dense ecosystems. When these areas are drained for agriculture — particularly oil palm and pulp/paper plantations — the exposed peat oxidizes and releases carbon accumulated over thousands of years. Fires on drained peatlands can smolder underground for months, releasing enormous quantities of CO₂, methane, and particulate matter that create severe air quality crises across Southeast Asia.

The Indonesian government has implemented various initiatives to address deforestation, including a moratorium on new concessions in primary forests and peatlands, working with Norway through a bilateral REDD+ agreement worth up to one billion dollars. However, implementation has been complicated by corruption in the forestry sector, jurisdictional conflicts between central and regional governments, the powerful economic interests of plantation industries, and the challenge of enforcing regulations across a vast archipelago of over 17,000 islands.

Progress requires not only policy changes within Indonesia but also transformation of global commodity markets. International demand for palm oil, paper, and timber drives much of the economic pressure on Indonesian forests. Sustainable consumption choices by consumers and companies in developed countries, combined with supply chain transparency and zero-deforestation commitments from major corporations, are essential complements to Indonesia's domestic forest governance reforms.

International climate negotiations under the UNFCCC provide the policy framework and financing architecture that makes large-scale forest protection economically viable for developing nations. The landmark Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, explicitly recognizes the importance of forests by encouraging all parties to implement REDD+ and to conserve and enhance forest carbon sinks. This international legal recognition has been crucial in mobilizing finance for forest conservation at scale.

Major climate conferences, or Conferences of the Parties (COPs), are where the detailed rules for REDD+ implementation, monitoring, reporting, and verification are negotiated. These meetings also establish the financial mechanisms through which developed countries channel funds to developing countries for forest conservation — including the Green Climate Fund, bilateral agreements like the Norway-Indonesia partnership, and emerging voluntary carbon markets. Getting these rules right is essential to ensuring that REDD+ genuinely reduces emissions rather than creating perverse incentives or allowing emissions to be shifted elsewhere.

The negotiation process involves balancing competing interests: developing countries seek maximum flexibility and financing with minimal intrusive monitoring requirements; developed countries want robust accounting and safeguards to ensure real emission reductions; indigenous communities advocate for recognition of their land rights and benefit-sharing; and environmental organizations push for stringent environmental and social safeguards. Finding agreement among these perspectives requires skilled diplomacy and scientific expertise.

Forest for Climate has tracked these negotiations since the early discussions around including forest conservation in climate policy, recognizing that the decisions made in international forums ultimately shape what happens on the ground in places like the Amazon, Congo Basin, and Indonesian archipelago. Informed public engagement with these processes, and accountability for government positions in international negotiations, is essential for achieving the ambitious forest protection goals needed to stay within safe climate limits.

Individuals can meaningfully contribute to tropical forest conservation through consumer choices that reduce demand for forest-risk commodities. This includes choosing products certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), or similar certification bodies for wood and paper products. Reducing consumption of beef — particularly from regions where cattle ranching drives deforestation — and choosing companies with verified zero-deforestation supply chains can reduce indirect pressure on tropical forests. Supporting organizations working on the ground in forest regions, whether through donations or raising awareness, also creates direct impact.

Businesses have even greater leverage through their supply chains and investment decisions. Companies can commit to sourcing only certified, deforestation-free commodities and require suppliers to demonstrate compliance with these standards. Signing on to initiatives like the New York Declaration on Forests, which committed signatories to halving natural forest loss by 2020 and ending it by 2030, sends important market signals. Businesses can also engage with forest-rich country governments and invest in landscape-level conservation initiatives that go beyond individual supply chain commitments.

Investors and financial institutions play a particularly important role through their lending and investment decisions. By requiring environmental due diligence and refusing to finance activities that drive deforestation, banks and asset managers can redirect capital away from forest destruction and toward sustainable land use. Engaging with companies in their portfolios on deforestation risk, using frameworks like the TNFD (Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures) to report on nature-related financial risks, can drive systemic change at scale.

Policy advocacy is another powerful channel for action. Citizens can urge their governments to support adequate financing for international forest conservation, to adopt domestic policies that prevent import of forest-risk commodities produced through deforestation, and to implement strong regulations requiring corporate due diligence on deforestation in supply chains. The EU Deforestation Regulation, which came into effect in 2023, represents exactly the kind of policy that consumer-country governments can adopt to reduce demand for forest destruction.