Global Climate Spending Focusing on Forest Protection

Forests straddling the equator are critical to a stable climate because they store vast amounts of carbon, and a new study finds that the U.S. and four other developed countries are spending billions of dollars to keep those forests intact.

An analysis of how the U.S., Japan, Germany, France, and Norway have donated money to climate change mitigation efforts in the developing world since 1998 found that protecting carbon-rich forests is among those countries’ highest priorities, according to the study published this week in the Journal of Sustainable Finance and Investment.

Using data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD, the University of East Anglia study found that in 2014 alone, the five top-donating countries spent $11.5 billion in 2014 for climate-related projects, including forest protection, electric transmission line construction, renewable energy and building railways.

The study found that protecting tropical forests and coastal mangrove stands was the main target for spending because those woodlands store large amounts of carbon and are threatened by development, said study author Aidy Halimanjaya, a researcher at the University of East Anglia’s School of International Development.

Read more at Global Climate Spending Focusing on Forest Protection