Informal consultations on the updated Program and Budget Implication (PBI) of the outcomes of the seventh session of the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF 7) continued at UN headquarters in New York, US, on 1 October 2007, after having first convened earlier in September 2007, under the chairmanship of Hans Hoogeveen, UNFF 7 Chair.

The updated PBI, released in July 2007, added several budget implications to the original PBI, which was produced following the adoption of a non-legally binding instrument on all types of forests and a multi-year programme of work at UNFF 7. The July 2007 updated PBI included the addition of five new posts at the UNFF Secretariat and a number of expert group meetings in preparation for UNFF 8 in 2009. Delegates attending the informal consultations in September expressed the need to strengthen the Secretariat, from existing resources within the UN and the UNFF Trust Fund, to assist in the implementation of the Forum’s commitments. Delegates also encouraged the reallocation of posts within the UN to the UNFF Secretariat and secondment of posts from members of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, thus requesting the Secretariat to “neutralize” the updated PBI. Consultations held on 1 October focused on ensuring that the appropriate UN offices were able to follow the guidance of the member States to offset the July PBI (IISD RS Sources).