Leaders Boost Sustainable Forest Management

Important progress on sustainable forest management and conservation has been made at the UN Climate Change Conference COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh with the launch of the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership (FCLP), which aims to unite action by governments, businesses and community leaders.

The Partnership aims to boost action to implement a commitment made by over 140 countries at COP26 in Glasgow last year to halt forest loss and land degradation by 2030 and to convert ambition into results on the ground. Only by stepping up efforts to reduce deforestation and implementing other mitigation activities in the forest sector can the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels be reached. Twenty-seven countries, representing over 60% of global GDP and 33% of the world’s forests, have already joined the new partnership and are committed to leading by example one or more of the FCLP’s action areas. These include mobilizing public and donor finance to support implementation, supporting Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ initiatives, and incentivizing the conservation of highintegrity forests.

“This alliance is an opportunity to implement solutions that reduce deforestation, that increase forest restoration and strengthen the livelihoods of people living in forest areas,” said Gustavo Manrique Miranda, Minister of the Environment and Water, Ecuador. The renewed political and financial commitment towards forest climate action shown at COP27 is creating new momentum for REDD+. REDD+ provides a holistic framework for forest climate action, including providing results-based payments for emission reductions achieved in the forestry sector.