Forests and climate change

Forest Days

Forest Day, now moving into its fifth year, is a platform for anyone with an interest in forests and climate change to meet once a year to ensure that forests remain high on the agenda of global and national climate strategies, and that those strategies are informed by the most up-to-date knowledge and experience. Forest Day presents an opportunity for stakeholders from different backgrounds and regions to network, share their experiences and debate the pressing issues facing forests around the world.

Convened by the Center for International Forestry Research on behalf of and in close cooperation with the CPF partners, each Forest Day takes place annually on the sidelines of the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties. The Day is designed to inform and engage world leaders, researchers, donors, policymakers, climate change negotiators, media, nongovernmental and intergovernmental organisations, indigenous peoples' groups and other forest-dependent people.

Global Forest Expert Panel on Adaptation of Forests to Climate Change

The Global Forest Expert Panel on Adaptation of Forests to Climate Change was the first thematic panel established under the CPF Global Forest Expert Panels initiative, led by IUFRO. The Expert Panel was formed by GFEP in late 2007 to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the state of knowledge regarding the impacts of climate change on forests, their implications for human wellbeing, and the options for adaptation.

A new study Embracing complexity: meeting the challenges of international forest governance was issued together with a policy brief in 2011 by the Global Forest Expert Panel on International Forest Regime. It suggests among other things that global efforts have too often ignored local needs and failed to address the fact that deforestation is usually caused by economic pressures from outside the forests. The detailed results of the work of the expert panel, which was constituted under the Collaborative Partnership on Forests and coordinated by IUFRO, was presented to the Ninth Session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) on 31 January 2011 as part of the launch of the International Year of Forests.

Strategic framework for forests and climate change

In 2008 CPF members agreed to initiate a concerted effort to draw a strategic framework for the response to the climate change agenda.

The strategic framework aims at reaching achievable objectives, leading to and emphasizing practical action on the ground and reportable outcomes. CPF members agreed on the process to prepare the strategic framework and on its broad scope, including mitigation and adaptation aspects and the needs related to Reduce Emission from Deforestation in Developing Countries (REDD). Bringing together in this strategy their collective experience in the field of forestry, CPF members will also assist countries in their preparations for the post-2012 climate regime.

CPF strategic dialogue

In 2008, the UNFCCC Secretariat hosted a CPF strategic dialogue (Summary report CPF21) between CPF members on the ways to advance some of the key and complex issues that CPF members constituencies are facing in implementing the forestry-related international agreements.

During this meeting CPF members agreed:

to conduct a mapping exercise to assess existing and planned activities as a first step in identifying gaps and potential for greater collaboration;
to contribute to the UNFCCC Web Platform on REDD;
to establish links with networks outside CPF, and share information through GFIS and other tools;
to address adaptation and forests as well as forest degradation;
to strengthen national cooperation among the National Forest Programmes, National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans and National Action Plans for Combating Desertification;
to contribute views for consideration in the forthcoming Secretary-General’s Report on Forests and Climate Change to be prepared by UNFFS for UNFF8.