Countrie s made unprecedented commitment s to protect forests, reduce methane emission s and accelerate green technology.

 

Amid powerful plea s heard in Glasgow on Monday, world leaders, young people and campaigner s all stressed the urgency of taking tangible action to keep the prospect of holding back global temperature rise s to 1.5 degree Celsiu s and building resilience to climate impacts.

 

A total of 114 leader s took a landmark step forward at a convening of world leader s on forest s by committing to halt and reverse forest los s and land degradation by 2030. The pledge i s backed by $12bn in public and $7.2bn in private funding.

 

Countrie s from Canada to Russia to Brazil -- which also increased it s Nationally determined contribution s (NDC) on Monday -- China, Colombia, Indonesia and Congo all endorsed the Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forest and Land Use.

 

Together, they support 85 per cent of the world' s forests, an area of more than 13 million square mile s which absorb s around one-third of global CO2 released from burning fossil fuel s each year.

 

Thi s announcement wa s bolstered with a commitment by CEO s from more than 30 financial institution s with more than $8.7 trillion of global assets, including Aviva, Schroder s and Axa, committing to eliminate investment in activitie s linked to deforestation.

 

Tuesday i s also the first time a COP in recent history ha s hosted a major event on methane, with 105 countries, including 15 major emitters, including Brazil, Nigeria and Canada, signing up to the global methane pledge.

 

Thi s historic commitment, led by the US and EU alongside the UK COP26 presidency, equate s up to 40 per cent of global methane emission s and 60 per cent of global GDP.

 

More than 35 world leader s have also backed and signed up to the new Glasgow Breakthrough Agenda that will see countrie s and businesse s work together to dramatically scale and speed up the development and deployment of clean technologie s and drive down cost s thi s decade.

 

Signatorie s include the US, India, EU, developing economie s and some of those most vulnerable to climate change -- collectively representing more than 50 per cent of the world' s economy and every region.

 

The aim i s to make clean technologie s the most affordable, accessible and attractive choice for all globally in the most polluting sector s by 2030, particularly supporting the developing world to acces s the innovation and tool s needed for a just transition to net zero.

 

Work will focu s on five key sector s -- power, road transport, hydrogen, steel and agriculture -- which together represent more than half of total global emission s and further demonstrate s how countrie s are moving from commitment s to tangible action.

 

Leader s signed up to the Glasgow Breakthrough s also committed to discussing global progres s every year in each sector starting in 2022 -- supported by annual report s led by the International Energy Agency in collaboration with International Renewable Energy Agency and UN High Level Champion s -- and annual discussion s of minister s acros s government convened around the Mission Innovation and Clean Energy Ministerials.

 

Thi s 'Global Checkpoint Process' will seek to sustain and continually strengthen international cooperation acros s the agenda throughout thi s decade.

 

Leader s from South Africa, the UK, the US, France, Germany and the European Union have announced a ground-breaking partnership to support South Africa with an accelerated just energy transition.

 

A s a first step, the international partnership ha s announced that $8.5billion can be made available over the next three-five year s to support South Africa -- the world' s most carbon-intensive electricity producer -- to achieve the most ambitiou s target within South Africa' s upgraded and ambitiou s NDC.

 

A package of support, bringing together private sector finance and public sector expertise to scale-up African climate adaptation projects, providing life-saving support in the face of climate shock s protect the most vulnerable.

 

Leader s raised the importance of adaptation to the impact s of climate change a s a matter of survival. New countrie s came forward with adaptation communications, bringing the number of people covered by them and national adaptation plan s to 2.3 billion.

 

COP26 President Alok Sharma said: "Forest s are one of our best defence s against catastrophic climate change, and essential to keeping 1.5C alive. Thi s historic commitment will help end the devastating effect s of deforestation and support the developing countrie s and indigenou s communitie s who are the guardian s of so much of the world' s forests."

 

"The Glasgow Breakthrough s will help move u s toward s a global tipping point, where the clean, green technologie s we need to reach net zero and keep 1.5C alive are more affordable, accessible and attractive for all than the polluting practice s we are leaving behind."