The UN Forum on Forests (UNFF) adopted a declaration pledging high-level commitment to forests going forward. The declaration reaffirms the UN Strategic Plan for Forests (UNSPF) as a global framework for action at all levels to protect and sustainably manage all types of forests and trees outside forests, to halt deforestation and forest degradation and to contribute to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other international forest-related instruments, processes, commitments, and goals.

It also “commits UNFF Members to take urgent and accelerated actions to halt and reverse deforestation and forest degradation and prevent land degradation by 2030, while achieving sustainable development,” the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) summary report of the meeting notes.

The other outcome of the meeting – an omnibus resolution – includes the Mid-Term Review (MTR) of the effectiveness of the International Arrangement on Forests and sets the mandate for specific future actions by UNFF Members, the UNFF Secretariat, the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), the Global Forest Financing Facilitation Network (GFFFN), and the UNFF Trust Fund. It also proposes “actions regarding the UNSPF, the UNSPF communication and outreach strategy, the contributions of the Forum to the 2030 Agenda, the involvement of regional and subregional partners, and the involvement of Major Groups and other relevant stakeholders,” ENB writes.

In addition, the omnibus resolution approved the UNFF’s Quadrennial Programme of Work for 2025-2028, which includes two thematically linked biennia: 2025-2026 (UNFF20-21); and 2027-2028 (UNFF22-23). The UNFF Bureau will pick thematic priorities for each biennium based on the Global Forest Goals (GFGs) and targets, taking into account the programme of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) and relevant international forest-related developments.

UNFF19 convened against the background of the GFGs remaining off track to be achieved by 2030. In her opening remarks, Director of the UNFF Secretariat Juliet Biao Koudénoukpo urged delegates “to take decisive action to bolster political commitment and partnerships in support of the Global Forest Goals and move from words to action.”

While UNFF19 Chair Zéphyrin Maniratanga (Burundi) welcomed the Forum’s outcomes as “historic,” “much of the [meeting] the mood… was one of divisiveness,” according to the ENB analysis. “Attempts to push progressive concepts such as economic circularity, gender responsiveness, and the prevention of forest degradation were watered down to achieve a ‘lowest common denominator’ consensus,” ENB notes, and “everyone was to some extent… ‘unhappy’ with the language” agreed in the end.

Yet, ENB highlights, “[t]he fact that both a ministerial declaration and an omnibus resolution were agreed, after multiple iterations, is a testament to the tenacity of the UNFF19 delegates and their understanding, when all seemed lost, of why they were there.”

UNFF19 convened from 6-10 May 2024 at UN Headquarters in New York, US. [ENB Coverage of UNFF19]