20 October 2015: The Forest Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and the Global Mechanism (GM) of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) have released a policy paper on the role of public policy makers in attracting greater investments in ‘Sustainable Financing for Forest and Landscape Restoration’ (FLR). The publication outlines how policy makers can generate an enabling environment for mobilizing FLR finance.

The policy paper outlines international FLR targets, such as the Bonn Challenge to restore 150 million hectares of degraded forest by 2020, the New York Declaration on Forests and target 15.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to achieve land degradation neutrality by 2030.

Recognizing the critical role of public policy makers in the mobilization and allocation of resources, the paper lays out opportunities for policy makers to take leadership in the following areas: mainstreaming FLR in state budgets, including through the use of public expenditure reviews for FLR, integrating FLR in national accounting, as part of measures to green fiscal policy and state investments and by adapting official development assistance channels to FLR; implementing appropriate financing mechanisms, including developing or reforming national environmental or forest funds and public incentive schemes and payments for ecosystem services mechanisms; engaging the private sector, including promoting voluntary corporate social responsibility commitments and supporting private impact funds; attracting investors to FLR, including developing marketplaces for FLR fundraising, generating and compiling data on FLR costs and benefits and reducing the risks of FLR investments through guarantee mechanisms; and building alliances and partnerships at all levels.

The policy paper was launched during a side event at the 12th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 12) to the UNCCD, held the 12-23 October 2015 in Ankara, Turkey. It also summarizes parts of an upcoming discussion paper on the same issue, to be released in December 2015. [Publication: Sustainable Financing for Forest and Landscape Restoration: the Role of Public Policy Makers] [FAO Forestry Newsroom] [IISD RS Coverage of UNCCD COP 12]