The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in collaboration with the UN-REDD Programme recently published two informational briefs on National Forest Monitoring Systems and Forest Tenure and REDD+.   “Developing capacity for national forest monitoring systems: UN-REDD support and innovative solutions for collecting, managing and reporting forest data”  This info brief provides a detailed overview of the UN-REDD Programme’s support and expertise in planning and implementing National Forest Monitoring Systems, or NFMS. A valuable tool, NFMS provide countries with high-quality, reliable data on forests and land use, including forest-carbon estimates. Such information is critical to informing national forest policies and practices and to meeting international climate and sustainable development goals.   Check out the key messages of the info brief, Developing capacity for national forest monitoring systems:...

The global rate of deforestation was estimated at 10 million hectares per year from 2015-2020. In tropical and subtropical countries, 73 percent of deforestation is attributable to agricultural expansion. Despite several countries successfully reducing their deforestation rates, there is still an urgent need to both increase finance at scale for efforts to reduce agriculture-related deforestation and to make all financial flows align with multiple competing and overlapping objectives and demands to the same landscape. Increasing agri-food productivity to meet the demands of a growing population and halting deforestation are not mutually exclusive.   Agriculture and land-use change can deliver up to one-third of the total desired climate mitigation solutions. Yet, global climate finance only allocates about four percent into the sector. While the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) recorded a 574 billion USD allocation to annual international climate finance, from 2017-2018, only about 21 billion USD was financed to the land-use sector. Further, analysis on goals outlined...

Agricultural production more than tripled between 1960 and 2015. While the productivity-enhancing technologies of the Green Revolution partially decoupled increased production from cropland extension, recent decades have still seen increased use of land, water and other natural resources for agricultural purposes. Since 1990, 420 million hectares of forest have been loss, mainly because of the conversion of forests for both commercial and subsistence agriculture.  For more than ten years, governments, the private sector and civil society have been strongly committed to halting deforestation. The Consumer Goods Forum resolution of 2010, and the New York Declaration on Forests, established in 2015, are major milestones that evidence global efforts. Notably, this year, the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use was signed, stimulating the collective dynamic launched in New York seven years ago. Also introduced during COP26, is the Forests Agriculture...

Addressing the series of crises facing humanity –  the most urgent being environmental, health, and food – will take collective global action. In recent years, countries have stepped up their collaborative efforts to mitigate climate change and address widening inequalities in income, livelihood, health and access to food. In doing so, together they have established global development and climate objectives, outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Agreement, and other international arrangements. To achieve the goals outlined by the Paris Agreement and the SDGs, many of which come due in 2030, sweeping transformational changes must take place. The Food...

Kicking off on 2 November, the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, United Kingdom, is an annual event that bolsters international cooperation on climate action. At COP, national emissions and climate commitments are reviewed and renewed, knowledge on climate mitigation strategies is shared and there is open dialogue among governments, the private sector, community changemakers, environmental experts and more. The FAO REDD+/National Forest Monitoring initiatives and projects will be prominently featured at following COP26 events:  Forests and People: How can REDD+ support Indigenous and Local Communities, and what have we learned so far?   Date/time: 1 November, 10:00-11:00 (GMT)   Format: In-person at the UK Pavilion  This event, designed as an open panel discussion, will explore various themes surrounding the importance of social inclusion in...