Forests have become a permanent fixture in climate discussions, from their inclusion in the Paris Agreement to the recent Glasgow Leader’s Declaration on Forests and Land Use at COP26. These ecosystems provide vital solutions for halting global climate change and enabling sustainable development. Harnessing the power of forests also requires ongoing communication and collaboration among international climate and forestry experts to drive cross sectoral and multi-level action. Organized by the Korea Forest Service (KFS) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) last month, the World Forestry Congress (WFC) presented an opportunity for the international community to evaluate the state of the world’s forest resources and consider the...

Catalyzing change with gender-responsive, climate-forest finance Assigning forest carbon rights is crucial for any effective REDD+ system. Often linked to debates about forest tenure, carbon rights also determine who can benefit, how and to whom carbon is sold and under what circumstances. Debates about forest carbon rights strongly link to debates about equity in REDD+. Clear and secure forest carbon rights are also important for encouraging public and private investment into REDD+. What are carbon rights? Currently, there is no internationally accepted definition of carbon rights, and very few countries have adopted definitions in their national legal systems. As it concerns the right...

More than 50 stakeholders participated in an online meeting focused on Gender and Forestry organized by FAO with the support of ECOWAS and Sida in the framework of the project “Global transformation of forests for people and climate, a focus on West Africa” funded by Sida. This meeting, held on 30 May 2022, increased awareness of gender and forestry issues in the West Africa region and promoted dialogue on strategies, actions and priority needs to address these issues. Gender is a central and cross-cutting theme for this regional project and is mainstreamed throughout its components, including improving knowledge of forest ecosystems...

The XV World Forestry Congress was held this year in Seoul, South Korea from 2-6 May. Jointly organized by the Korea Forest Service (KFS) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Congress provided an opportunity for the international community to gather and evaluate the state of the world’s forest resources, as well as share strategies, tools and ideas for building a green, healthy and resilient future. Over 15,000 registered participants, from over 160 different countries,represented governments and public agencies, international organizations, the private sector, academic and research institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and local community and...

The global rate of deforestation was estimated to be 10 million hectares per year between 2015 and 2020, with nearly 90 percent of forest loss between 2000 and 2018  driven by agricultural expansion. A recent study also found that the global food system produces as much as one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. These alarming statistics highlight the need to ramp up global efforts to make food systems more sustainable and to better understand and manage trade-offs between agriculture and forestry. Taking action to remove forest conversion from agricultural value chains offers significant potential to achieve climate mitigation, enhanced livelihoods and food security. The global community has...