5 April 2013: The Resumed Third Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Legally Binding Agreement (LBA) on Forests in Europe (INC-Forests3) recommended bringing the LBA “under the UN umbrella,” considered an offer from Germany to host the Agreement, and further revised the draft negotiating text of the LBA.
This session of INC-Forests3, which convened from 3-5 April 2013 in Saint Petersburg, the Russian Federation, was a continuation of a session held from 28 January – 1 February 2013, in Antalya, Turkey.
Participants discussed at length the question posed to it by the mandate that initiated the process: whether the FOREST EUROPE Ministerial Conference slated for early November 2013 in Madrid, Spain, will endorse the LBA text for adoption under UN or UN system auspices; or whether the Ministerial Conference itself will adopt the Agreement as a non-UN treaty. After two-days of intensive discussion, INC-Forests3 decided to rule out making the LBA a non-UN treaty, but left the decision on which UN organ will host the agreement and which will be part of its secretariat to the last negotiating session, INC-Forests4 slated for 10-14 June 2013 in Warsaw, Poland.
INC-Forests4 is also meant to decide whether the LBA will be a regional or global convention. The Committee also heard the details of a formal offer from Germany to accommodate the headquarters of the LBA secretariat in Bonn.
Plenary negotiations on the draft negotiating text sought to reach ad referendum agreement where possible, with particular focus on: the preamble; terms and definitions; provisions on monitoring and reporting; compliance; and the secretariat and the conference of parties (COP). Plenary also discussed substantive articles such as forests as carbon sinks, forest fragmentation, ecosystem services, and protection of ground and surface water, but no agreement was reached on these subjects.
The Committee considered and adopted the recommendations of the legal expert group that reviewed the draft final clauses -the articles on matters such as signatures, ratification, voting rights, amendments, annexes and protocols – as well as an annex on arbitration drafted by the INC-Forests secretariat. The Committee held an initial discussion on financial arrangements for the LBA, and asked the Bureau to present a document at INC-Forests4 on major cost elements, possible sources of financing and options. The Bureau was also tasked by INC-Forests3 to draft an annex on conciliation for discussion at INC-Forests4.
The INC-Forests process was launched by the 2011 Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe (FOREST EUROPE), held in Oslo, Norway (Oslo 2011). Although its origins are with FOREST EUROPE, INC-Forests is an independent process. [INC-Forests Website] [IISD RS Coverage of Resumed INC-Forests3] [INC-Forests Press Release]