This year, the 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 22) to the UNFCCC in Marrakech was crucial to maintaining momentum for conserving and enhancing carbon sinks and reservoirs, and showcasing the transformations that are already underway.
The action COP saw governments, Indigenous Peoples, the private sector, and civil society organizations support forests in the Global Action Agenda through Forest Action Day, which showcased different initiatives from around the world, and at the High Level Forests ministerial event, where forests were reaffirmed as crucial to meeting our climate and SDGs.
2015 was a big year for forests – the year forests were recognized and enshrined in all-encompassing, forward-looking international agreements. In September, the UN adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Goal 15, which specifically focuses on the protection and sustainable management of forests, the reversal of land degradation and the halting of biodiversity loss.
December saw the adoption of the Paris Agreement, which provides that all countries should take action to conserve and enhance carbon sinks and reservoirs, explicitly including forests, in its Article 5. Efforts in the run up to Paris were focused on finishing the framework to support developing countries to halt deforestation and protect their forests, and recognizing the role of forests in the new climate agreement. This year, the 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 22) to the UNFCCC in Marrakech was crucial to maintaining that momentum and showcasing the transformations that are already underway. Marrakech was thus labeled the action COP.
In October, the Green Climate Fund approved the first proposal in support of actions to reduce emissions from deforestation and support forest conservation, granting Ecuador around US$41 million.
Countries are stepping up to the table, and making progress toward the implementation of the Warsaw Framework for REDD+. Several are developing national REDD+ strategies – Chile being the latest – and so far, 15 countries have submitted forest Reference Emissions Levels, a crucial step in gaining access to climate finance by tracking emissions reductions at the national level. In October, the Green Climate Fund approved the first proposal in support of actions to reduce emissions from deforestation and support forest conservation, granting Ecuador around US$41 million. Furthermore, over 150 countries included forests (and land) in their Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs, signaling more commitment to take action in this sector.
The action COP saw governments, Indigenous Peoples, the private sector, and civil society organizations support forests in the Global Action Agenda through Forest Action Day, which showcased different initiatives from around the world, and at the High Level Forests ministerial event, where forests were reaffirmed as crucial to meeting our climate and SDGs.
The world continues to lose natural forests at an alarming rate, and just four commodities – palm oil, soy, beef, and pulp and paper – are responsible for 40% of deforestation.
National governments are not the only ones taking action. Companies have also made major forest-related commitments, pledging to work towards deforestation-free supply chains and the protection and restoration of forests through international efforts like the New York Declaration on Forests, or individual undertakings.
Despite these important developments, the scale and pace of action is not yet enough to end deforestation by 2030. The world continues to lose natural forests at an alarming rate, and just four commodities – palm oil, soy, beef, and pulp and paper – are responsible for 40% of deforestation. We need immediate and accelerated action, ambitious implementation, and collaborative partnerships to meet our climate goals.
COP 22 in Marrakech showed us that we have the political will to make that happen. While the work is far from over, this common sense of purpose is a bright light of hope against an uncertain climate future. Now is the time to prove the sincerity of our commitments to forest preservation. Building country capacities to implement REDD+ programmes – and scaling up the finance to incentivize them to do so – is fundamental to building sustainable, low carbon, deforestation-free economies.
Indigenous peoples will continue to play a key role as stewards of some of the world’s vital forest ecosystems and keepers of intimate knowledge of their territories. Deforestation rates have been found to be two-three times lower in legally-held indigenous lands, illustrating the importance of both learning management strategies from those communities and supporting them as they claim land rights and seek legal recognition.
Collaborative partnerships also offer innovative ways to move forward. Public-private partnerships harness the market power and agility of companies to the legal frameworks and objectives of governments, allowing them to work together to target deforestation.
Looking forward, this cross-sectoral momentum needs not only to be maintained, but to grow towards the next big checkpoint for the climate agenda – the 2018 facilitative dialogue. There, countries will need to agree on how to collectively raise their ambitions, in order to continue to decarbonize our climate and our economies to keep global temperature rise well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and even 1.5°C.
We live in a complex world, but every one of us can and must take action if we want to achieve a stable climate for generations to come. The time to act is now.