Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

COP26: Scottish government minister Patrick Harvie warns deforestation pledge is ‘complacent’

Patrick Harvie MSP, co-leader of the Scottish Greens and government minister for zero carbon buildings, active travel and tenants' rights. Image: Supplied

A global promise to end deforestation by 2030 is 10 years too late, according to a Green party member of the Scottish Government.

More than 100 world leaders have signed an agreement at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow to end and reverse the destruction of crucial forest cover.

The countries who signed the pledge cover around 85% of the world’s forests, including those with some of the world’s largest forests, such as Brazil, Canada and Indonesia.

The agreement involves £14billion of public funds to restore damaged land, tackle wildfires and support indigenous communities all over the world.

Governments from 28 countries also commited to removing deforestation from the global trade of food and agriculture, such as the use of palm oil, soya and cocoa, which all drive forest loss.

Deforestation in a tropical rainforest

More than 30 of the world’s biggest companies will pledge to end investment in activities linked to deforestation.

There will also be a £1.1 billion fund to protect the Congo Basin, the world’s second largest tropical rainforest.

Pledge is decade too late

Mr Harvie, recently installed as a minister in the SNP-Green government, says the agreement should have been reached 10 years ago.

He said: “It’s, very welcome that this is on the agenda and it recognises deforestation as one of the phenomenally powerful drivers of climate change, and undermines other actions.

“But to wait another decade to start to reverse deforestation is complacent at best.

“It is very clear we need to pay the countries that look after rainforests.

“So instead of turning them into forests they are financially rewarded for the economic loss, but we must also recognise the economic value of rainforests.”

He also says there is a lot of work to do to sustainably increase forest cover here in Scotland as well.

Agreement welcomed by the prime minister

The plans for the deforestation agreement today have been welcomed by others.

Boris Johnson said the deal is a “landmark agreement” as it will help protect and restore the earth’s forests.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, pictured at COP26

After the deal was signed Mr Johnson said: “Let’s end this great chainsaw massacre by making conservation do what we know it can do, and that is deliver long-term sustainable jobs and growth as well.

“Today is not just a vital win in the struggle to contain global temperature increases, it is also a huge economic opportunity.

“This is the long-term sustainable path to maintaining to ending the loss of our forests, protecting our sacred biodiversity and helping to keep alive the ambition of 1.5 degrees by the end of the century.

UK Environment Secretary George Eustice also called it “an important breakthrough”.

He added: “Had you spoken to me five days ago I also would have been apprehensive about whether we would have landed this agreement on forests, but we have and it’s looking really encouraging.

“This is a big breakthrough.”