Solving the climate crisis without protecting forests and ending deforestation is an impossible task. The world forests provide important ecosystem and livelihood services and are more than a store of carbon which needs protecting – they are also actively removing it. By recent scientific estimates, forests absorb one-quarter of global fossil fuel emissions from the atmosphere every year.

Yet the climate finance needed to save forests still falls short of international pledges and intended impacts.

In this short animation film, civil society organisations from forested regions in Africa and Asia warn that large sums of climate funding are diverted because of weak governance. Very little trickles down to forest dependent people despite their crucial role in protecting forests globally.

The Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forests and Land Use, signed by 141 countries commits to ending deforestation by 2030, is an important signal that donors will provide the funds needed to step up to the challenge.

This momentum must not be lost, and forest defenders believe that solutions are within reach.

For COP27, civil society organisations urge donors to account for their promises to deliver climate finance that preserves and restores forests and supports the rights of local communities and Indigenous Peoples.