GOAL ASSESSMENT PROGRESS ON THE NEW YORK DECLARATION ON FORESTS

The 2020 Goal 1 assessment concludes that the world is failing to halve natural forest loss and associated greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and is not on track to stop them by 2030. Using data from Global Forest Watch and the FAO, the report finds that global annual gross tree cover loss has increased by 40% since the NYDF was signed in 2014 compared to the 2001-2013 baseline. Humid tropical primary forest loss has increased by 41% on average since the baseline period. While net natural forest loss decreased slightly from 10.4 million hectares per year (2000-2010) to 7.8 million hectares per year (2010-2020), this is insufficient to meet targets. Tropical Africa is identified as an emerging frontier of forest loss, while Latin America remains the region with the highest absolute area of primary forest loss. Greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and primary forest loss are also moving away from 2030 targets, with primary forest emissions 45% higher since the NYDF signing than before.

• The world has failed to meet the 2020 target of halving forest loss and greenhouse gas emissions and is not on track to eliminate them by 2030. The required sustained reductions to meet the 2030 target are described as "unprecedented and are highly unlikely."
• Global gross tree cover loss has increased significantly since the signing of the NYDF in 2014. The average annual loss between 2014 and 2019 was 40% higher than the 2001-2013 baseline, rising from 18 to 25 million hectares per year.
• Humid tropical primary forest loss has increased by an average of 41% since the baseline period, moving from 3.0 to 4.2 million hectares per year. To reach the 2030 target of zero loss, this must decrease by 340,000 hectares each year.
• Global net natural forest loss showed a slight decrease, falling from 10.4 million hectares per year (2000-2010) to 7.8 million hectares per year (2010-2020), but remains far above the 2020 target of 5.2 million hectares per year.
• Tropical Africa has emerged as a major frontier for forest loss, showing the largest relative increase in both tropical deforestation and primary forest loss compared to the baseline period.
• Latin America accounts for more than half of all annual tropical primary forest loss, with a loss of 2.34 million hectares per year between 2014 and 2019, the highest absolute area among tropical regions.
• Greenhouse gas emissions from forest loss are increasing. Gross emissions from humid tropical primary forest loss were 1.8 Gt CO2 in 2019, which is 62% above the 2020 target of 0.70 Gt CO2.

APA

Forest Declaration Assessment (2020). GOAL ASSESSMENT PROGRESS ON THE NEW YORK DECLARATION ON FORESTS. https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/2020NYDFGoal1-low-res.pdf

Chicago

Forest Declaration Assessment. GOAL ASSESSMENT PROGRESS ON THE NEW YORK DECLARATION ON FORESTS. 2020. https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/2020NYDFGoal1-low-res.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Forest Declaration Assessment |title=GOAL ASSESSMENT PROGRESS ON THE NEW YORK DECLARATION ON FORESTS |date=November 2020 |url=https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/2020NYDFGoal1-low-res.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{forestdeclarationassessment2020goal, author = {{Forest Declaration Assessment}}, title = {{GOAL ASSESSMENT PROGRESS ON THE NEW YORK DECLARATION ON FORESTS}}, institution = {Forest Declaration Assessment}, year = {2020}, month = nov, url = {https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/2020NYDFGoal1-low-res.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }