Sierra Club BC media availability on COP26 pledge to end deforestation by 2030 and today’s expected B.C. old-growth announcement

November 2, 2021

Please be advised that Sierra Club BC’s Senior Forest and Climate Campaigner Jens Wieting is available to comment on today’s accord aimed at protecting the world’s forests and what it means for old-growth protection and forestry reforms in B.C. The B.C. government is also expected to make an announcement on old-growth forests this afternoon. Our campaigners will be available for comment.  

More than 100 countries currently gathered in Glasgow — including countries such as Brazil, Russia and China — vowed to end deforestation, but not until 2030. 

Despite growing awareness of the role forest ecosystems play in tackling the climate and biodiversity crises, this accord will allow another decade of destruction. Intact forests and peatlands are natural storehouses of carbon, when they are logged, burned or drained, these ecosystems release enormous amounts of greenhouse gases. 

 “Without leadership in all forest regions of the word, the COP26 accord on protecting forests could become another empty promise. And there are few places on the planet that could contribute so much when it comes to protecting carbon-rich, endangered old-growth forests while fully respecting Indigenous jurisdiction like B.C.,” said Jens Wieting, Senior Forest and Climate Campaigner at Sierra Club BC.  

“It’s not too late for the BC. government to work with Indigenous governments to speed up implementation of the promised paradigm-shift, protect old-growth forests and transition to forest management that is centred on ecological integrity.” 

 

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Media contact:

Jens Wieting, Senior Forest and Climate Campaigner | Sierra Club BC
jens@sierraclub.bc.ca, (604) 354-5312

 

 

Photo: Mya Van Woudenberg/Sierra Club BC