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Visualizing the Forest Funding Gap Relative to Emissions

by Aran Ali
This post is by Aran Ali from Visual Capitalist

The following content is sponsored by The LEAF Coalition

The Briefing

  • Deforestation accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions
  • Deforestation receives just 2.2% of climate funding

The Forest Funding Gap

Climate change has been referred to as modern day civilization’s greatest challenge. And stopping deforestation is an important step in the battle to stop rising global temperatures. Yet, when you look at the amount of climate funding earmarked for deforestation, something doesn’t add up.

This graphic from The LEAF Coalition looks at the state of global deforestation and compares how much climate funding it receives relative to its global CO2 emissions.

Deforestation’s Role in Global Emissions

Protecting our forests and protecting the climate are one in the same. In fact, the data reveals that tropical deforestation accounts for 10% of global CO2 emissions.

What’s more, these levels of emissions exceed that of all individual countries except for the U.S. and China. Despite this, climate funding towards deforestation only accounts for $14 billion of the over $618 billion available, representing a small 2.2% slice of the total.

This is especially problematic when considering a forest’s carbon stock and carbon sequestration capabilities. Here’s how different forests across the globe compare when looking at gigatonnes of carbon stock.

EcosystemEstimated Carbon Stock (Gt)Annual Loss Rate
Tropical moist forests295 Gt0.45%
Boreal forests283 Gt0.18%
Temperate broadleaf forests133 Gt0.35%
Temperate conifer forests66 Gt0.28%
Tropical dry forests14 Gt0.58%
Mangroves7.3Gt0.13%

A carbon stock (Read more...)

The Impact of Deforestation on Carbon Storage

by Iman Ghosh
This post is by Iman Ghosh from Visual Capitalist

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The following content is sponsored by The LEAF Coalition
graphic showing the impacts of deforestation both short and long term

The Impact of Deforestation on Carbon Storage

A one degree change in temperature could have catastrophic consequences.

One of the most notable influences on rising global average temperatures comes from deforestation. In fact, combined emissions from deforestation are higher than the annual emissions of any other country (apart from the U.S. and China) and contribute to roughly 12% of total annual greenhouse gas emissions.

This graphic from The LEAF Coalition takes a closer look at the impact deforestation has on global greenhouse gas emissions through carbon storage.

The Short and Long-Term Impacts

The devastating impact deforestation has on the environment cannot be understated. By some estimates, 30% of the globe’s carbon emissions are absorbed by forests each year. Yet 3.75 million hectares of tropical primary rainforest were lost in 2021, equating to 10 football pitches per minute.

However, the problem deforestation poses is actually two-fold—carbon stocks in the short-term and carbon sequestration in the long-run.

Forests have powerful carbon stocking capabilities. This refers to their ability to store carbon in biomass like their roots, trunks, and branches. Here’s how global carbon stocking by ecosystems compare:

EcosystemEstimated Carbon Stock (Gt)Annual Loss Rate
Tropical moist forests295 Gt0.45%
Boreal forests283 Gt0.18%
Temperate broadleaf forests133 Gt0.35%
Temperate (Read more...)

How Ending Tropical Deforestation Can Keep Global Warming Below 1.5°C

by Sponsored Content

The following content is sponsored by The LEAF Coalition.

How Ending Tropical Deforestation Can Keep Global Warming Below 1.5°C

How Ending Tropical Deforestation Can Keep Global Warming Below 1.5°C

In the case of global warming, a few degrees make all the difference.

The United Nations’ latest IPCC report emphasizes that the Earth is on a collision course with catastrophic climate change—that is unless, in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement, the global rise in temperatures can be limited to 1.5°C.

To achieve this however, the world will need to significantly reduce its carbon emissions. Today’s graphic from The LEAF Coalition highlights how protecting forests is essential to this process.

Tropical Deforestation: A Carbon Emissions Culprit

According to the World Economic Forum, to keep to a 1.5°C pathway by 2030, we’ll need to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half. For this trajectory to be maintained in 2050, emissions need to be completely eliminated.

However, tropical deforestation accounts for 10% of global carbon (CO₂) emissions today, which is comparable to the emissions outputs of entire countries.

 Est. Annual CO₂e Emissions
🇨🇳 China12.4 Gt/year
🇺🇸 U.S.6.0 Gt/year
🌳 Tropical tree cover loss5.3 Gt/year

In fact, combined emissions from tropical tree cover loss, including activities of deforestation, rival annual emissions from major emitters, coming in third just after China and the United States.

Protecting Forests is Key

The urgency of ending tropical deforestation to curb emissions cannot be understated. If in the previously mentioned 2030 scenario, it is assumed that emissions have already dropped steeply, deforestation today would still need (Read more...)

Visualizing the World’s Loss of Forests Since the Ice-Age

by Omri Wallach
This post is by Omri Wallach from Visual Capitalist

How to Use: To navigate this slideshow, click the arrows on the sides of each image or use the arrow keys on your keyboard.

The World’s Loss of Forests Title

Visualizing The World’s Loss of Forests Since the Ice-Age

How much of Earth used to be covered by forests, and what portion is covered today?

The effects of deforestation on the climate are already being seen and felt, and these repercussions are expected to increase with time. That’s why more than 100 world leaders pledged to end and reverse deforestation by 2030 at the COP26 climate summit.

As today’s graphic using data from Our World in Data highlights, the world’s forests have been shrinking since the last ice age at an increasingly rapid pace.

Earth’s Surface Area: 10,000 Years Ago

To examine the deforestation situation properly, it helps to understand Earth’s total available surface area. After all, our world can feel massive when glancing at maps or globes. But of the roughly 51 billion hectares in total surface area on Earth, more than 70% is taken up by oceans.

What’s left is 14.9 billion hectares of land, not all of which is habitable. Here is how the land was allocated 10,000 years ago, after the last ice age and before the rise of human civilizations.

Uninhabitable land on Earth (10,000 years ago):

  • Barren land (19% or 2.8bn ha)—Includes deserts, salt flats, exposed rocks, and dunes
  • Glaciers (10% or 1.5bn ha)—The vast majority concentrated in Antarctica

Habitable land on Earth (10,000 years ago):