In advance of the opening of the 9th World Forest Week (WFW 2024), which will be held in conjunction with the 27th Session of the COFO (COFO27) from 22 to 26 July 2024, under the theme “Accelerating Forest Solutions through Innovation’’, this pre-WFW high-level dialogue “WOOD for GLOBE: Leading Pathways to Carbon Neutrality and Resilience" will provide a platform for countries and other stakeholders to review progress on implementation of the sustainable wood pathways identified in the Ministerial Call on Sustainable Wood launched in 2022 at the XV World Forestry Congress in Seoul, Republic of Korea.

This high-level event will be an opportunity to explore emerging partnerships, synergies, and critical needs to achieve the objectives of Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement. 

A Ministerial segment will be chaired by the High Excellency H.E. Norbert Totschnig, Austrian Federal Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Regions and Water Management, where countries will renew commitments to collaborate and invite new countries to join efforts towards scaling up contributions of wood to the development of strong environmentally friendly and carbon-neutral economies.

Specific objectives are: 

• Review of progress on sustainable wood use since the Ministerial Call on Sustainable Wood.
• Global exchange of knowledge, experiences and lessons learned among initiatives and projects.
• Identification of opportunities for international cooperation and collaboration among initiatives.

Renewed and broadened country commitments to implement the sustainable wood pathways and to join forces together to promote enhanced policy and technical dialogue and exchange among producer and consumer countries and key stakeholders.