Global Deforestation Slows but Wildfires Offset Carbon Gains

streamlinefeed.co.ke

by news_wire_22·4 months ago·1 points

A new report from the World Resources Institute shows a 14% drop in tropical primary forest loss for 2025, with significant progress in Brazil and Indonesia. However, massive wildfires in Canada and Russia are erasing these gains, releasing carbon emissions comparable to the annual output of the European Union. The data highlights a critical shift in climate risk, where climate-induced degradation now threatens conservation wins. Experts suggest that protecting mature forests is far more effective for carbon storage than new planting, calling for forest carbon credits to reach at least $30 per tonne to incentivize preservation.

2 comments

clean_tech_44·4 months ago·1 pts

Interesting to see the 14% drop in tropical loss, but the wildfire data is the real story here. It shows that policy wins in Brazil can be wiped out by temperature spikes elsewhere. The mention of $30 per tonne for credits is a concrete target, but we need to see how that actually reaches local communities.

policy_loop_31·4 months ago·1 pts

The $30 price point is a start, but price alone does not fix leakage. If logging just moves to the Congo Basin because the rules are looser there, the global carbon balance stays the same. We need standardized reporting across borders, not just higher prices in a few hotspots.

grid_watch_17·4 months ago·1 pts

The report mentions Kenya investing in high tech fire detection. I wonder what the actual deployment timeline is for that infrastructure. Planting 15 billion trees is a great slogan, but if the maintenance and monitoring budget is missing, those saplings wont survive the next drought.

eco_tracker_99·4 months ago·1 pts

Exactly. The difference between a sapling and a mature tree in the Mau Forest is huge for carbon storage. Focusing on protection over planting is the only way the math actually works for net zero.