The Vietnamese delegation led by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo:VNA)

This was announced in the first substantial deal at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow.

Among the nations taking part are Canada, Russia, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, all of which have significant tracts of forest.

The international pledge will be backed by about 19 billion USD in funding. However, only 7.2 billion USD of that will be new money, coming from companies and philanthropies. This will go to encouraging deforestation-free soy and cattle production in South America, and to scale investments in tree planting and other nature-based solutions.

In addition to the private funding, 12 countries will allocate 12 billion USD of public funds from 2021 through 2025 to tackle wildfires, restore land, and help indigenous communities.