12 December 2018: Ministers attending the 24th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 24) to the UNFCCC adopted the ‘Ministerial Katowice Declaration on Forests for Climate.’ The Declaration highlights the role of sustainable forest management (SFM) in achieving climate neutrality.

The Polish Presidency of COP 24 hosted a special event for ministers and heads of delegations on ‘Forests for Climate’ to highlight the role of forests in achieving the Paris Agreement on climate change. Speaking at the event, Poland’s Minister of the Environment, Henryk Kowalczyk, said Poland’s forest cover has systematically expanded, increasing by 504,000 hectares between 1995 and 2004. He stressed that the Polish Presidency wants to show how to strive to achieve a balance between greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and absorption “through the application of innovative solutions in the field of forest management and by relying on the natural process of carbon dioxide absorption by soil and forests.” Following discussion, ministers adopted the Declaration by acclamation.

Ministers encourage the scientific community to continue to explore and quantify the contribution of sinks and reservoirs of GHGs in managed land.

In the Declaration, ministers pledge to accelerate actions to ensure that the global contribution of forests and forest products is maintained and further supported and enhanced by 2050 to support achievement of the Paris Agreement. Ministers encourage the scientific community to continue to explore and quantify the contribution of sinks and reservoirs of GHGs in managed lands, including forests, to achieve a balance between anthropogenic GHG emissions by sources and removals by sinks in the second half of this century and to explore ways to increase this contribution. Ministers further encourage non-Party stakeholders, including cities, regions, businesses and investors, to continue to display their ambition and commitments in their forestry-related climate actions through the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action and the NAZCA Platform.

The Declaration builds on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its SDGs, the UNFCCC and related instruments, the Warsaw Framework for REDD+, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, the UN Strategic Plan for Forests and other global and regional initiatives on sustainable forest management. The Declaration stresses the importance of strengthening synergies among these instruments, where appropriate.

The Declaration is the third deliverable championed by the Polish COP 24 Presidency. The first deliverable, ‘Driving Change Together: Katowice Partnership for Electromobility,’ is a dedicated framework for encouraging technological and organizational changes in the sector to further develop zero-emission transport. The Polish Presidency also prepared the ‘Solidarity and Just Transition Silesia Declaration,’ which envisages reaching targets on climate protection while also maintaining economic development and workplaces. [COP 24 News Story on Declaration Acceptance] [Ministerial Katowice Declaration on Forests for Climate] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on Katowice Partnership for Electromobility] [IISD RS Coverage of Katowice Climate Change Conference]