A joint session of the Timber Committee of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the European Forestry Commission under the aegis of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) scheduled for October 2011 will focus on the theme “Forests in a Green Economy.”
16 November 2010: The chair of the Timber Committee of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), Linda Langner, and the chair of the European Forestry Commission under the aegis of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Peter Blomback, reported that at a meeting on 15 October 2010, the joint Bureaux of the two bodies decided that the theme of their joint session scheduled for October 2011 will be “Forests in a Green Economy.”
The special session will include discussions on concrete examples and suggested actions in several areas, including: sustainable forest management for a green, sustainable, climate-friendly economy; the forest industry’s role in green building; wood energy’s contribution to a sustainable energy future; sustainable production and consumption; valuation of forest ecosystem services (“value creation through conservation and sustainable management”); green jobs in forestry; and policy and institutional frameworks conducive to achieving a green economy.
The Bureaux also agreed to develop an action plan, directed at policymakers, on improving and promoting the forest sector’s contribution to a green economy. The action plan is expected to address forest-based products, wood energy, sustainable forest management, valuation of ecosystem services, green building, and institutional and policy incentives, providing a concrete contribution to the UNCSD (also called Rio+20) in 2012. As part of the formulation of the action plan, the Bureaux also launched a consultation open to States, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, the private sector and academic institutions.
The consultation, open until 15 January 2011, is soliciting views on the possible main topics of the action plan; the objectives for increasing the role of the forest sector under each topic; and for each objective, the actions that are already taken and/or should be required to increase the role of the forest sector in achieving a green economy. A draft of the action plan will be developed in the first quarter of 2011 and reviewed during an informal consultation meeting open to all stakeholders on 18-19 April 2011 in Geneva, Switzerland. [UNECE/FAO Action plan and Call for comments]