24th Session Committee on Forestry

Forests and the Sustainable Development Goals – from aspiration to action

The 24th session of COFO and the 6th World Forest Week explored the contributions that forests can make to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

The Committee examined what contributions forests can make to achieving the SDGs and other internationally agreed goals and:

• explored ways and means to accelerate progress, in particular, towards Goal 15;
• discussed actions for implementing the policy recommendations of the Committee on World Food Security regarding the contributions of forests to food security and nutrition;
• reviewed opportunities and challenges for urban and peri-urban forestry;
• considered the implementation of FAO’s climate change strategy and specific tasks related to forest resilience, health and forest fires; and
• provided strategic direction for the future work of FAO in forestry.

The 2018 edition of  The State of the World’s Forests: Forest pathways to sustainable development was released.

 

 

 

 

 

Speakers at the Opening Session

• H.E. Akram Chehayeb, Chairman of the 24th Committee on Forestry, Lebanon

• José Graziano da Silva, Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

• H.E. Maithripala Sirisena, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic and Minister for Mahaweli Development and Environment, Asia Pacific Forestry Commission, Sri Lanka

• H.E. Siti Nurbaya Bakar, Minister of Environment and Forestry, Republic of Indonesia, Indonesia

• H.E. Marie Chatardova, President, UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

• Sławomir Mazurek, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of the Environment, Poland

• H.E. Mario Arvelo Caamaño, Chairman, Committee on Food Security (CFS)

• Daniel Gustafson, Deputy Director-General (Programmes), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

World Forest Week 6

For the sixth time, COFO was held in conjunction with the World Forest Week - a series of meetings and events sponsored by FAO and its partner organizations and institutions. The World Forest Week is an opportunity for sharing state-of-the-art knowledge and major accomplishments and achievements.