Data are essential for effective, evidence-based decision and policymaking. In many cases, these data already exist, but are not accessible. A webinar was organized last October by the Office of Chief Statistician of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to present the Food and Agriculture Microdata Catalogue (FAM), a resource that guarantees access to the data necessary to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These data are often expensive and even difficult to obtain; in many cases, they cannot be accessed. As Pietro Gennari, Chief Statistician at FAO, pointed out, "the data ended up being stored and unable...

  Date: Tuesday, 25 October 2022  Time: 16.00–17.30 (GMT +2) Register now   Objective:  Share stories and perspectives on integrating under-represented communities in forest science, especially when addressing climate action. About this webinar:  While many scientific communities around the world are making efforts to solve issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion in their organizations, forest science continues to lack sufficient workforce diversity. To address this disparity, Jingjing Liang – Associate Professor at Purdue University – founded Science-iin 2016 as an international research hub hyper-converged with Earth observation data, global expertise, and advanced cyberinfrastructure to accelerate science by empowering under-represented communities in global research and knowledge co-production. Every year, Science-i...

Scenes of flooding and storms can show us just how much weather and climate affects our lives. Climate change threatens our ability to ensure global food security, eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development. To combat climate change and its impacts, the Paris Agreement represents a commitment by countries to limit the rise of the global average temperature. Signatories are required to provide reports on their emissions and implementation efforts for mitigation and adaptation.  The Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) was created to track and report on these individual country commitmentsin a fair and transparent way. Developing countries are now working to...

Forests provide nature-based solutions to some of the most significant challenges of our era, including climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, hunger and poverty. Many international commitments, including the Paris Agreement, the Sustainable Development Goals, the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use and the Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework have recognized the roles forests play in mending negative impacts of human activity on the environment and sustaining healthy development. Notable progress includes the increase in references to forests in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) – countries’ high-level political commitments to implement low-carbon and climate-resilient actions under the Paris Agreement. However,...

In early May, the XV World Forestry Congress (WFC) was held in Seoul, marking an important opportunity for the international community to collectively assess the state of the world’s forest resources. Organized by the Korea Forest Service (KFS) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), diverse representatives from a variety of organizations and country governments participated in this global forum, hostingsub-theme sessions, side events, and high-level dialogues. These events presented opportunities and challenges to turning the tide of deforestation, launched new tools and mechanisms, and set global agendas for future action.   Dynamic solutions are required to address...