UN climate summit heeds Polish call for greater role for forests

A total of 65 countries on Wednesday supported the Polish-drafted “Forests for Climate” initiative, which aims to encourage afforestation and sustainable forest management, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.

Poland’s Environment Minister Henryk Kowalczyk told summit participants that his country was effectively using forests to absorb carbon dioxide amid efforts to mitigate global warming.

The director-general of Poland’s State Forests authority, Andrzej Konieczny, told the COP24 conference last week that forests comprised 30 percent of Poland’s area, slightly below the EU average of 38 percent.

The “Forests for Climate” initiative approved on Wednesday was the third Polish-drafted declaration adopted at COP24, after one calling for a "just transition" towards a low-carbon economy and another aiming to promote electromobility, or eco-friendly electric transport, the IAR news agency reported.

The 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, also known as COP24, opened in the southern Polish city of Katowice at the start of last week and runs until Friday.

Speaking at the official opening of the summit, Polish President Andrzej Duda said his country was "ready to take its share of responsibility for international security," including in terms of climate policy.

Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told international leaders on the second day of the conference that his country was among nations leading the way in efforts to stop global warming.

(gs/pk)

Source: IAR