Libreville: France will commit 50 million euros ($52.9 million) to a global scheme to reward countries for protecting their forests and biodiversity, President Emmanuel Macron told a summit in Gabon on Thursday.
The pledge was announced at the end of a two-day forest summit aimed at assessing progress made since last year’s COP27 climate conference and renewing goals for the conservation and sustainable management of the world’s forests.
“We need cash on the table and concrete action,” Macron said in a speech throughout the first day of a four-nation tour of Africa.
France’s Macron set for four-nation tour of Africa
France’s commitment is part of a joint 100 million-euro contribution to kickstart a mechanism that will reward countries that are scientifically proven to have protected or restored their forests.
How central African countries like Gabon manage their part of the world’s second largest rainforest is crucial.
The so-called lungs of Africa store more carbon per hectare than the Amazon, help regulate temperatures, and generate rain for millions of people in the arid Sahel and distant Ethiopian highlands.