wikimedia commonsPeruvian forest will receive help from Germany and Norway to tackle climate issueswikimedia commons
Germany and Norway will support initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions resulting from deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon. Peru, with over 68 million hectares of forests, has one of the five largest tropical forest areas in the world. Although its rate of deforestation is not high, it accounts for approximately 71 million metric tons of CO2 emissions per year. The region is under pressure from farming, extractivist industries and infrastructure projects, and each of these problems is aggravated by a lack of environmental zoning. In a document signed by officials of the three countries, Peru has agreed to increase the land area reserved for indigenous groups by at least 5%, and to reduce carbon emissions. Germany has pledged to continue helping Peru on climate and environmental issues, and Norway will earmark nearly $47 million between now and 2017 to introduce measures to help reduce carbon emissions. Between 2017 and 2021, Norway will also contribute more than $240 million to projects aimed at reducing deforestation. The initial steps will include implementation of a forestry law in Peru and creation of a coalition of businesses that commit to zero-deforestation policies.
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