Advancing the Glasgow Declaration Accountability Framework

In November 2021, more than 140 countries signed the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use, a groundbreaking agreement to halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030. However, even as the urgency has grown, there are already warning signs that signatories are not pursuing these commitments with the rigor necessary to protect the world’s forests.

Not only did tropical primary forest loss increase in 2022—with record-high levels in some places—but countries in the Global North have largely failed to acknowledge or address their own forest impacts. This, despite northern industrial logging being the single-largest driver of tree cover loss in the world.

With time running short for safeguarding the world’s climate- and biodiversity-critical forests, NRDC and a growing coalition of government officials, civil society organizations, and marketplace actors are calling on signatories to the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration to support and enable the creation of a Glasgow Declaration Accountability Framework (GDAF) to propel implementation of the 2030 goals.

The GDAF contains three pillars that are designed to promote transparency, facilitate strong policy foundations and public financing, and align countries around common standards and metrics. Through these mechanisms, the GDAF would address long-standing inequities, data gaps, and policy roadblocks hindering truly global progress.

Ultimately, the realization of the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration will depend on shared accountability that drives comprehensive, common, and equitable action across both tropical and northern forests. By implementing the GDAF—which has been endorsed by the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment—countries can work cooperatively to achieve the 2030 targets for protecting the world’s forests and the rights of the people who call them home.