World: sustainable forest management, World Bank calls for annual investment of USD 536 billion

The World Bank is sounding the alarm on the massive financing needs to protect the world’s forests and support the fight against climate change.

In its new report, the institution informs that to achieve conservation, biodiversity and land restoration objectives, stakeholders would need to invest 536 billion dollars each year, four times the current amounts, for a total of 8.4 trillion dollars by 2050.

Similarly, the Global Challenge Program: Forests for Development, Climate, and Biodiversity (GCP-F), launched by the World Bank, aims to transform forest management practices.

he objective of this program is to promote forests as economies in their own right, generating economic opportunities and sources of sustainable development.

This economic model, note the experts, is based on exploiting forest resources in harmony with nature, mobilizing private investment while meeting conservation challenges.

By integrating key sectors such as agriculture, energy and infrastructure, the World Bank aims to encourage “standing” forests, capable of supporting livelihoods, storing carbon and generating global public goods.

Flory Musiswa