“Building global capacity to increase transparency in the forest sector (CBIT-Forest): accelerating capacity-building, knowledge-sharing and awareness raising” is an ambitious project led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), designed to accelerate capacity-building, knowledge-sharing, and awareness-raising efforts in developing countries.
The project aims to enhance the quality, timeliness, accessibility, and usability of forest-related data, in line with the enhanced transparency framework (ETF) requirements of the Paris Agreement.[More]
What is CBIT-Forest?
Adopted in 2015, the Paris Agreement encourages all countries to articulate actions to tackle climate change in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and to make these proposed actions progressively more ambitious. Article 13 of the Paris Agreement on climate change requests Parties to provide information to enable progress in achieving NDCs to be tracked, and promote environmental integrity, transparency, accuracy, completeness, comparability and consistency.
The project Building global capacity to increase transparency in the forest sector (CBIT-Forest): accelerating capacity-building, knowledge-sharing and awareness raising, aims to strengthen the institutional and technical capacities of developing countries to meet the enhanced transparency requirements of the Paris Agreement, responding to Article 13 and contributing to tackling climate change.
Born from a partnership between the FAO and the Global Environmental Fund (GEF), this collaborative project directly benefits 1 000 individuals and at least 20 countries, with a broader impact on 236 countries and territories associated with the FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) national correspondent network.
The project addresses key barriers to enhance forest data transparency, such as data collection challenges in remote forest areas and improving data quality for reporting. It focuses on maintaining the momentum in engaging countries in transparent and open data for climate action, contributing to consistent and accurate forest-related data for global and national reporting efforts.
Funded by the GEF, the project is a continuation of FAO’s collaborative efforts in addressing the pressing challenges of climate change and forest conservation initiated under CBIT-Forest project (2020—2022), capitalizing on its achievements and the valuable lessons it has imparted.
CBIT-Forest operates through:
- Developing capacities for open and transparent data management at national, regional, and global levels.
- Implementing innovative global composite learning programmes, combining virtual and in-person training.
- Sharing knowledge and experiences to build international momentum around forests and transparency.
- Strengthening and expanding networks with new regional partners, including academia, to ensure sustainable and transparent forest reporting.
Activities
FAO/GEF CBIT-Forest will support a coordinated global and national forest-related data collection, analysis and dissemination process.
Main components include:
Boost institutional capacity
Supporting developing countries to strengthen their institutional capacity to exchange knowledge and raise awareness of the importance of forest-related data to respond to the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF).
Increase technical capacity
Supporting developing countries to strengthen their technical capacity on data collection, analysis and dissemination of forest-related data to respond to the ETF.
Share knowledge
Sharing knowledge and improving coordination to respond to the ETF.
Building global capacity to increase transparency in the forest sector (CBIT-Forest): accelerating capacity-building, knowledge-sharing and awareness raising
- Global scope
- 3 years (2024-2026)
- GEF (USD 2.0 million); FAO (USD 5.2 million)