The world's forests are an asset of tremendous value.
Primarily, because of their ability to capture
and to store carbon.
-: Forests also purify water and air,
and they are home to diverse plant and animal species.
And provide livelihoods for millions of people.
-: Our very conservative estimate of their value
ranges from 50 trillion to 150 trillion US dollars.
That is more than the world's global oil reserve.
-: In making our calculations,
we considered forest's total value,
not just the value of commercial activities like logging.
We also measured forest's value
in terms of climate regulation,
environmental impact,
and social impact.
-: Forests are so important to climate change,
that we attributed 65 to 90% of their value
to the role they play in helping to regulate it.
-: Forests store carbon on a massive scale
and young growing forests absorb significant amounts
of CO2 from the atmosphere.
On the other hand, because of deforestation and decay,
forests currently release more CO2 to the atmosphere,
than they absorb.
This effect will get even worse,
if temperatures rise and forests dry out
and then release even more CO2 to the atmosphere.
-: Forests are disappearing at the rate
of 40,000 soccer fields a day.
If we don't act,
in the next 30 years,
forests could lose a third of their value.
-: The biggest action we can take,
is to restore and plant forests,
and manage existing forests in a much more sustainable way.
-: If we take immediate action now,
we believe we could slow down the loss of forest value
and reduce it to something like 10%
in the next 30 years.
-: Governments, NGOs, the private sector,
and we as consumers, all need to play a part
to avoid the most devastating effects
of declining forests and forest values on climate change.