Deforestation

Saudi Arabia will host the COP16 U.N. conference on land degradation and desertification next week as the top oil exporter pitches itself as an environmental defender despite criticism of its role at climate talks.

Aerial view of an area of Amazon rainforest deforested by illegal fire in the municipality of Labrea, Amazonas State, Brazil, taken on Aug. 20, 2024.

Deforestation continued last year at a rate far beyond pledges to end the practice by 2030, according to a major study published Tuesday.

A growing number of governments, international trade organizations and businesses are urging the European Union to reconsider a deforestation regulation set to take effect in December.

The Amazon rainforest has lost an area about the size of Germany and France combined to deforestation in four decades, fueling drought and record wildfires across South America, experts have said.

The world's biggest jungle, spanning nine countries, is crucial to the fight against climate change due to its ability to absorb planet-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Around 255,000 hectares of land were damaged in fires in Türkiye between 2012 and 2023, while 1.7 million hectares were added to the forest asset in the same period.

The European Union has resisted calls from some industries and countries to delay its flagship policy to fight deforestation, a letter seen by Reuters on Friday showed.

A variety of Turkish exports to the European Union are set to face new regulations to indicate forests were not harmed through the supply chain, aimed at preventing deforestation.

Importers of coffee to the European Union are starting to scale back purchases from small farmers in Africa and beyond as they prepare for a landmark EU law that will ban the sale of goods linked to the destruction of forests, a cause of climate change.

New forests will be established in all 81 provinces in the country as part of a nationwide large-scale afforestation effort on the occasion of the National Afforestation Day on Nov. 11, Agriculture and Forestry Minister İbrahim Yumaklı has announced.

The opposition's attempt to address the contentious issue of deforestation of woodlands in western Türkiye, driven by mining interests, suffered a blow during an extraordinary parliamentary session on Aug. 8.