Boris Johnson today trumpeted a £14billion deal with 100 countries - including Brazil and China - to protect the world's forests.
The PM said he wanted humanity to shift from being the 'conqueror' of nature to its 'custodian' as he seized on the pact as evidence of progress at his COP26 summit.
But the gathering in Glasgow has suffered another setback as major polluter India only committed to reaching Net Zero by 2070 - two decades after the UK and other powers.
The mixed picture came as global leaders prepared to wrap up their section of the two-week UN climate jamboree.
Mr Johnson - who will hold an event with US President Joe Biden on 'building back better' later - said climate change and biodiversity loss were two sides of the same coin.
'We can't deal with a devastating loss of habitats and species without tackling climate change, and we can't deal with climate change without protecting our natural environment and respecting the rights of indigenous people who are its stewards,' he said.
'It's central to the ambition of the UK's Cop presidency that we act now and we end the role of humanity as nature's conqueror and instead becomes nature's custodian.
'We have to stop the devastating loss of our forests, these great teeming ecosystems, three trillion-pillared cathedrals of nature that are the lungs for our planet.'
Boris Johnson said he wanted humanity to shift from being the 'conqueror' of nature to its 'custodian' as he seized on the forestry pact as evidence of progress at his COP26 summit
Mr Johnson was on stage with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (centre) and Australia's PM Scott Morrison to launch a fund for small islands to build better disaster infrastructure
The announcements came after the Queen issued a rallying cry to world leaders attending Cop26 urging them to work together in 'common cause' to tackle climate change and 'solve the most insurmountable problems'.
In a video message played during a welcoming reception for presidents and prime ministers, she hoped the summit's legacy would be that they recognised 'the time for words has now moved to the time for action'.
Downing Street said the pledges to halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030 were backed by £8.75billion of public funding with a further £5.3billion in private investment.
Mr Johnson said: 'What is most significant about this declaration is not just the range of countries coming together, but also that we're working in partnership with the private sector, with philanthropists, with indigenous people in those communities to address the economic drivers of deforestation.'
Meanwhile, the US and EU are launching an initiative that aims at driving global efforts to cut emissions of methane, a powerful but relatively short-lived greenhouse gas which comes from sources including fossil fuel extraction and livestock farming, as a significant short-term contribution to climate action.
