Countries pledge to end forest loss but not Brazil

NEW YORK _ Dozens of companies and countries -- including the United States but not Brazil, a key player -- signed on Tuesday to an unprecedented partnership aimed at halving the loss of the world's forests by 2020 and ending it by 2030.

The 32 countries and 39 major companies, including Wal-Mart and McDonald's, made their "New York Declaration on Forests" at the U.N. Climate Summit, signaling the vital role that forests play in climate change. Trees store carbon dioxide but when cut down, they release the heat-trapping greenhouse gas to the atmosphere.

"There is no way to crack the climate issue without the forest issues," Charles McNeill, senior environmental policy adviser for the U.N. Development Program, tells USA TODAY. He says the pledges are voluntary but since they're public, signatories won't want to back out.

If the goal is met, the U.N. estimates the impact would be equivalent to taking every car in the world off the road. The participants, including dozens of environmental and indigenous groups, also pledge to restore more than one million square miles of forest worldwide by 2030.

The effort has the backing of wealthy countries including Canada, France and the European Union, but its success may be hampered by the absence of Brazil, home to much of the Amazon rainforest. Brazil did not sign on, telling the Associated Press that it was not included in the preparation process. Yet three Brazilian states - — Acre, Amapa and Amazonas — did.

The challenge is huge. "Our planet is losing forests at a rate of eight football fields every ten seconds," Carter Roberts, president of the World Wildlife Fund said in a statement announcing the agreement..

The participants include many well-known consumer goods makers including Cargill, Nestle, General Mills, Kellogg's, L'Oreal, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever. They agree not to source products such as palm oil, soy, paper and beef from land that has been recently or illegally cleared of trees.

The United Kingdom, Germany and Norway pledge to set up to 20 programs in the next couple of years that will pay countries to reduce their deforestation.

"Forests represent one of the largest, most cost-effective climate solutions available today," the declaration says. "Action to conserve, sustainably manage and restore forests can contribute to economic growth, poverty alleviation, rule of law, food security, climate resilience and biodiversity conservation."