The UK, the US and Norway are to fund a new initiative aimed to help save the world's remaining forests.
Norway is earmarking up to $135m, the UK $120 million and the US $25m for the first year of a major new BioCarbon Fund initiative, which will be overseen through the World Bank.
The Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes (.pdf) seeks to scale up land-management practices across large landscapes, including improved livestock management, climate-smart agriculture and sustainable forest management, with a focus on protecting forests and greening and securing supply chains.
Ed Davey, the UK energy and climate change secretary, said: "Our global forests are the lungs of the world, and protecting them is fundamental for our survival. When we hand these forests to future generations, we must be able to say we exercised our stewardship wisely and responsibly.
"This century, tree-cover the size of Greenland has been destroyed by logging, fire, disease and storms. We have the opportunity now to pull forests back from the brink – reducing emissions and safeguarding the wildlife, agriculture and other livelihoods that depend on the forests. We must not let that opportunity pass us by."
The funding announcement was made at the United Nations climate change talks in Warsaw, where it was also revealed that the money was not new, as it came from existing climate aid budgets.
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