FAO statement at 2022 HLPF – SDGs in focus: SDG 15 and interlinkages with other SDGs

High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2022

SDG 15 and interlinkages with other SDGs – Life on land

Statement by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Mr. Ewald Rametsteiner, Deputy Director, FAO Forestry Division

Protecting, restoring and sustainably using forests and trees is central to SDG 15 and to many other SDGs.

The recently launched State of the World’s Forests Report of FAO reviews evidence and the potential of these three interrelated pathways, which need to be pursued jointly to achieving SDG 15. 

First, ‘protection’: this includes halting deforestation and maintaining forests to help stop climate change and biodiversity loss. A practical example of this is the UN-REDD Programme, which is working with 65 partner countries to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, which is an essential part of the global efforts to mitigate climate change.

Second, ‘restoration: this includes making land more productive, through planting or agroforestry. An example of this in action is the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, which FAO leads with the United Nations Environment Programme, and which aims to restore 350 million hectares of degraded land between now and 2030. It could generate 9 trillion USD in ecosystem services and lay the basis for jobs and income from more productive land, as well as increasing food security.

Third, ‘sustainable use’: this includes using sustainably produced wood more wisely by building higher-value added value chains that provide resilient livelihoods and build carbon-neutral local economies.  Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Programmes have supported more than 40 tropical timber-producing countries to improve forest governance and support legal timber trade. The Global Environment Facility Impact Programme on “Food Systems, Land Use and Restoration” supports 27 countries to advance agricultural commodity production and sustainable agri-food systems transitions.

To  advance these pathways we need political commitment, investments and – importantly – a strong involvement of smallholders, local communities and indigenous peoples. 

I want to recall the important role of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, established by the General Assembly and chaired by FAO, which brings together 15 international entities working on forest agenda. 

Let me also highlight the Seoul Forest Declaration, adopted at the recent World Forestry Congress, that brought together over 15,000 forest stakeholders, and which urges that responsibility for forests should be shared more broadly.

FAO is committed to support members in up-scaling efforts to build back better and greener towards more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable agrifood systems.