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Conserving forests is essential to achieving the World Bank’s twin goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. A high percentage of the world’s impoverished people source food, medicine, building materials and fuel-wood directly from forests, and depend on the forest ecosystem services of water provision and purification, flood prevention, and climate change adaptation and mitigation.
To pursue the win-win scenario of promoting the sustainable development while leading on timely and effective solutions to climate change, the World Bank must commit to zero forest loss in its portfolio— both in investments within the forest sector, and external to the forest sector. Such a zero deforestation pledge must include direct deforestation due to the Bank’s investments, as well as extending to deforestation-free supply chains for products used in and generated by Bank investments.
As UNFCCC COP21 in Paris rapidly approaches, the world is watching closely and hoping for a binding post-2020 climate change commitment. A strong commitment from the World Bank to eliminate forest loss from its portfolio would provide the political support and finance necessary to make national climate change goals a reality. The World Bank is ideally positioned to play an integral role in combatting climate change by supporting climate change resilient, zero deforestation development, and by setting important precedents that would have cascading effects on the policies of other development financiers, private corporations, and borrower countries.
To encourage the World Bank to act on deforestation, BIC has launched a campaign encouraging the Bank’s president, Jim Kim, to make a pledge committing to zero deforestation. BIC is currently working with a coalition of CSOs to develop a policy proposal for a zero deforestation commitment. Stay tuned here, on Twitter @BIC_updates, and on our facebook for more news in the coming weeks! Contact Pia Iolster or Rachel Baker for more information and to get involved.