The European Union committed on Tuesday to spend 1 billion euros ($1.16 billion) from its budget over the next five years to protect forests, including 250 million euros for countries in the Congo Basin in Central Africa.
"We need to better listen to the indigenous communities, to the producers, to the consumers and to the traders... Listen to each other, work with each other, to stop deforestation," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at the COP26 conference in Glasgow, Scotland.
The EU contribution is part of a bigger $12 billion finance package to protect, restore and sustainably manage forests in poorer countries. Other donors including Britain, Norway, the United States and Japan, Reuters reported.
