Results
Report
2022
The role of wood residues in the transition to sustainable bioenergy
This report provides an overview of the potential use of wood residues as feedstock for bioenergy production as part of the transition towards a sustainable and circular forest bioeconomy. While data and examples are abundant from developed countries, a specific focus will be put on the role and potential of wood residue-based energy in developing countries.
The study is structured around the following four main objectives, each corresponding to a chapter:
- define key terms and concepts related to wood residues and bioenergy value chains (Chapter 2);
- characterize the status and trends in renewable energy, modern bioenergy and the forest-based bioeconomy and [...]
Tool
2022
Ex-Ante Carbon balance Tool
This document presents the methodology used to build the EX-Ante Carbon Balance Tool version 9 (EX-ACT). It describes in detail the main logic behind the tool, the tool structure, and the underlying equations and parameters used to calculate the carbon balance. EX-ACT is a land-use-based accounting system developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to evaluate the effects of the interventions in agriculture on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and carbon stock changes expressed as carbon balance. The carbon balance comprises changes in GHG emissions and carbon stock changes in the five quantifiable carbon pools: above-ground [...]
Report
2022
Leveraging COVID-19 recovery strategies to build climate-smart agrifood systems in developing countries
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has jeopardized the stability of agrifood systems and the welfare of the rural households that are actively engaged in the different components of these systems, particularly in developing countries. Efforts are underway to redress the negative impacts of the pandemic through investments to ‘build back better’. These efforts represent an enormous opportunity to make significant and lasting contribution to the longer-term resilience and sustainability of agrifood systems in the context of climate change.
The objective of this report is to provide an overview of the current opportunities for harnessing short-term response and recovery efforts to address longer-term [...]
Report
2022
Forests for a better world. Unasylva No. 253 – Vol. 73 2022/1
To coincide with the 50th anniversary of FAO’s Committee on Forestry, this edition of Unasylva showcases ways in which forests are delivering the "four betters" and underscores how forests are crucial for resilient and sustainable agrifood systems in a changing climate. As FAO’s longest running periodical, Unasylva focuses on issues and themes relevant to forestry and forest industries and aims to bring globally significant developments in forestry to policy-makers, forest managers, technicians, researchers, students and teachers around the globe.
Report
2022
The State of the World’s Forests 2022
The 2022 edition of The State of the World’s Forests explores the potential of three forest pathways for achieving green recovery and tackling environmental crises, including climate change and biodiversity loss against the backdrop of the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use and the pledge of 140 countries to eliminate forest loss by 2030 and to support restoration and sustainable production and consumption.The three interrelated pathways are halting deforestation and maintaining forests; restoring degraded lands and expanding agroforestry; and sustainably using forests and building green value chains. The balanced, simultaneous pursuit of these pathways can generate sustainable economic [...]
Case study
2022
Forest-based adaptation: transformational adaptation through forests and trees
Forest-based adaptation is an ensemble of climate actions that employ forests and trees in support of climate change adaptation and resilience, including sustainable forest management, forest conservation and restoration, reforestation and afforestation. Forest-based adaptation can help address the gaps between current adaptation actions and the adaptation needed for reducing climate-related risks and impacts, while contributing to most of the Sustainable Development Goals and promoting strong synergies with mitigation.This FAO technical paper unpacks the concept of forest-based adaptation and describes policy spheres that could bolster the role of forests and trees in providing adaptation and resilience benefits. It introduces a set [...]
Report
2022
The State of the World’s Forests 2022. Forest pathways for green recovery and building inclusive, resilient and sustainable economies
Against the backdrop of the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use and the pledge of 140 countries to eliminate forest loss by 2030 and to support restoration and sustainable forestry, the 2022 edition of The State of the World’s Forests (SOFO) explores the potential of three forest pathways for achieving green recovery and tackling multidimensional planetary crises, including climate change and biodiversity loss.The three interrelated pathways are halting deforestation and maintaining forests; restoring degraded lands and expanding agroforestry; and sustainably using forests and building green value chains. The balanced, simultaneous pursuit of these pathways can generate sustainable economic [...]
Case study
2022
European good practices on land banking. FAO study and recommendations
Many countries in Western Europe have a long tradition of applying land banking as part of the integrated toolbox of land management instruments. As with land consolidation, the traditional purpose of land banking has been to support agriculture and rural development by reducing land fragmentation and facilitating the enlargement of farms. In Western Europe, the objectives of land banking have developed over the last decades, and today, in several countries, the instrument is applied in a multi-purpose approach together with land consolidation. In most countries, land banking shares the objectives of land consolidation, which in addition to continued agricultural development, [...]
Issue paper
2022
Managing risks to build climate-smart and resilient agrifood value chains. The role of climate services
This work provides a preliminary analysis of the key climate risks affecting agrifood value chains and opportunities for climate services that reach stakeholders involved in all stages of the value chain, from agrifood production to harvest, storage and refrigeration, processing and packaging, transportation, markets, trade and consumption.
Climate services provide opportunities to effectively and comprehensively mainstream climate risk management across the entire agrifood value chain, in addition to increasing sustainability and efficiency in the face of changing climate conditions. This report provides significant primary information and recommendations on the development of climate services across the agrifood value chain with a view [...]
Briefs
2022
Sustaining school enrolment when rains fail. Evidence from Malawi
Emerging evidence suggests that rural children, particularly older girls in low-income countries, are at risk of being withdrawn from school when weather-related disasters occur. Identifying actions that mitigate the adverse effects of weather shocks on school enrolment, therefore, is critical for sustaining equitable human capital formation in the context of climate change. In this paper, we use four waves of household and community panel survey data, merged with long-term, spatially explicit rainfall data to investigate whether access to school feeding programmes (SFP) in Malawi supports primary school enrolment when weather shocks occur.