International Day of Forests: Difference between revisions

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Forest Day is one of the world's leading global platforms for anyone with an interest in forests and climate change to share their views and work together to ensure forests are suitably incorporated into any future climate change mitigation and adaption strategies.

History

Forest Day began as a casual conversation in Oxford, England, in February 2007, between two scientists who felt the world was underestimating the importance of forests in mitigating carbon emissions and saw a glaring need for the latest forestry research and thinking to inform global policy makers and UNFCCC negotiators. They did not foresee that the conference would become one of the most influential global events on forests and climate change today.^[1]

Each Forest Day is convened by CIFOR on behalf of and in close cooperation with its fellow members in Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF).

Previous Forest Days

Forest Day 1

The inaugural Forest Day was one of the major events at UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP) 13 in Bali, Indonesia on 7 December 2007. More than 800 people participated in Forest Day, including scientists, members of national delegations, and representatives from intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations.^[2]

A major feature of Forest Day was four parallel panel discussions focusing on cross-cutting themes related to forests and climate change. These well-attended discussions examined such issues as setting baselines and methodological challenges in estimating forest carbon; markets and governance challenges associated with REDD+; adaptation to climate change; and equity-efficiency trade-offs.

Areas of consensus emerging from the discussions included the following:

While there are significant methodological challenges to be surmounted, current methods are “good enough” to proceed with the design of mechanisms for reducing emissions from both deforestation and degradation.
Governance-related challenges pose the greatest risks for both international investors and local stakeholders in the context of new mechanisms.
Mechanisms should be simple, and should not repeat the mistakes of the Clean Development Mechanism.
The success of any REDD+mechanism will depend on the political will to address the drivers of deforestation, including drivers that originate beyond the forestry sector.
Adaptation efforts need to shift from responsive to anticipatory, and should be focused on the most vulnerable, including forest-dependent people.

Forest Day 2

Building on the positive response to the first Forest Day held in Bali, Indonesia, Forest Day 2 brought together nearly 900 participants to discuss the opportunities and challenges of bringing forests into global and national strategies for climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Participants stressed the broad importance of forest ecosystems and noted that forests comprise an inter-dependent web of animals, plants and microorganisms, which together provide a wide range of goods and services beyond carbon sequestration. These include biodiversity conservation, rainfall generation and products that are crucial to the livelihoods of local forest dependent and indigenous peoples as well as to the economies of many countries.

Those attending recognized the importance of building on the vast knowledge and experience that exists on sustainable forest management (SFM) and called on negotiators to consult with forest stakeholders as they develop climate policy.

Forest Day 3

More than 1500 stakeholders attended Forest Day 3 held in Copenhagen, Denmark on 13 December 2009 including 34 donors, government representatives, 88 journalists, 500 NGO representatives, indigenous leaders, 188 private sector representatives and hundreds of scientists and forestry experts. Their goal was to ensure that the design and implementation of forest-related climate mitigation and adaptation measures under consideration in the Climate Change Agreement would be effective, efficient and equitable.

Although the UNFCCC failed to agree on binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions^[3], significant progress was achieved in negotiating the outlines of a REDD+ mechanism. The Copenhagen Accord that emerged was the first international agreement to recommend that financial resources be raised to support REDD+. Australia, France, Japan, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States offered a US$3.5 billion funding package for REDD+ preparation.

Moreover, one of the indicators of the relevance of Forest Day – its ability to attract world leaders – became clear at Copenhagen. Key speakers at the event included:

Rajendra K. Pachauri, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement and Nobel laureate
Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Norwegian Prime Minister
Hilary Benn, the UK Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Sir Nicholas Stern, head of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.

Former US President Bill Clinton appeared via video and Nobel Prize winner Elinor Ostrom was among the keynote speakers.

Forest Day 4

Forest Day 4 took place on 5 December 2010 in Cancún, Mexico. More than 1,500 people including over 350 Climate negotiators were in attendance.

The theme for Forest Day 4 was "Time to Act," highlighting the urgency of ensuring the survival of the world's forests, the biodiversity they embrace and the hundreds of millions of people who depend on them. The event served as a bridge between the Interantional Year of Biodiversity and the 2011 International Year of Forests. Forest Day 4 was hosted by the Government of Mexico, through the National Forestry Commission, Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) and CIFOR.

Forest Day 5

The 2011 COP 17 is to be hosted by Durban, South Africa, from November 28 to December 9, 2011.^[4]

References

^ "History of Forest Day". CIFOR.
^ "Forest Day 1: Shaping the Global Agenda for Forests & Climate Change". CIFOR.
^ "Leaders Will Delay Deal on Climate Change". New York Times.
^ "Durban to Host Climate Conference". greenpeace.org.

External Links

[his-1] "History of Forest Day". CIFOR.

[fd1-2] "Forest Day 1: Shaping the Global Agenda for Forests & Climate Change". CIFOR.

[nytimes-3] "Leaders Will Delay Deal on Climate Change". New York Times.

[cop17-4] "Durban to Host Climate Conference". greenpeace.org.

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 Forest Day began as a casual conversation in [[Oxford, England]], in February 2007, between two scientists who felt the world was underestimating the importance of forests in mitigating [[carbon emissions]] and saw a glaring need for the latest forestry research and thinking to inform global policy makers and [[United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change|UNFCCC]] negotiators. They did not foresee that the conference would become one of the most influential global events on forests and climate change today.<ref name=his>{{cite web |url=http://www.forestsclimatechange.org/history.html |title= History of Forest Day |publisher=CIFOR}}</ref>
-Each Forest Day is hosted by [[Center for International Forestry Research|CIFOR]], and partner organizations from the [[United Nations Forum on Forests#Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) )|Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF)]].
+Each Forest Day is convened by [[Center for International Forestry Research|CIFOR]] on behalf of and in close cooperation with its fellow members in [[United Nations Forum on Forests#Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) )|Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF)]].
 == Previous Forest Days ==