Parts of this article (those related to United Nations forest instrument) need to be updated.(November 2019) |
Abbreviation | UNFF |
---|---|
Formation | 18 October 2000 |
Type | Intergovernmental organization, Regulatory body, Advisory board |
Legal status | Active |
Headquarters | New York, USA |
Head | Chair of the UN Forum on Forests Kitty Sweeb, UNFF Secretariat Alexander Trepelkov |
Parent organization | United Nations Economic and Social Council |
Website | UNFF at un.org |
Politicsportal |
The United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) is a high-level intergovernmental policy forum. The forum includes all United Nations member states and permanent observers, the UNFF Secretariat, the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, Regional Organizations and Processes and Major Groups.
In 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, ("Earth Summit") held in Rio de Janeiro, adopted the Non-legally Binding Authoritative Statement of Principles for a Global Consensus on the Management, Conservation and Sustainable Development of All Types of Forests (Forest Principles) together with Agenda 21, which included a chapter (Chapter 11) on "Combating Deforestation".
Following the Earth Summit, the UN established the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF) and its successor, the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF), to implement the Forest Principles and Chapter 11 of Agenda 21. From 1995 to 2000, the IPF/IFF processes dealt with such issues as underlying causes of deforestation; traditional forest-related knowledge; international cooperation in financial assistance and technology transfer; development of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management; and trade and environment. The IPF/IFF processes resulted in a set of 270 proposals for action for the promotion of the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests.
In 2000, the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) established the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) with the main objective to promote "… the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests and to strengthen long-term political commitment to this end…" based on the Rio Declaration, the Forest Principles, Chapter 11 of Agenda 21 and the outcome of the IPF/IFF Processes and other key milestones of international forest policy...
The UN Strategic Plan for Forest (2017 – 2030) has adopted a set of six Global Forest Goals and 26 associated targets to be reached by 2030, which are voluntary and universal.
Goal 1: Reverse the loss of forest cover worldwide through sustainable forest management, including protection, restoration, afforestation and reforestation, and increase efforts to prevent forest degradation and contribute to the global effort of addressing climate change
Goal 2: Enhance forest-based economic, social and environmental benefits, including by improving the livelihoods of forest-dependent people
Goal 3: Increase significantly the area of protected forests worldwide and other areas of sustainably managed forests, as well as the proportion of forest products from sustainably managed forests
Goal 4: Mobilize significantly increased, new and additional financial resources from all sources for the implementation of sustainable forest management and strengthen scientific and technical cooperation and partnerships
Goal 5: Promote governance frameworks to implement sustainable forest management, including through the United Nations forest instrument, and enhance the contribution of forests to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
Goal 6: Enhance cooperation, coordination, coherence and synergies on forest-related issues at all levels, including within the United Nations system and across member organizations of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, as well as across sectors and relevant stakeholders
On December 17, 2007, the UN General Assembly adopted the Non-Legally Binding Instrument on All Types of Forests negotiated by the UNFF earlier that year. The purpose of this instrument is:
On December 22, 2015, the UN General Assembly renamed the instrument to the United Nations Forest Instrument though the content of the instrument did not change. The UN General Assembly also extended the objectives outlined in the global objectives to 2030, in line with the 2030 Agenda For Sustainable Development. [1]
The Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), a grouping of 15 forest-related international organizations, institutions and convention secretariats, was established in April 2001, following the recommendation of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. The CPF works to support the work of the UNFF and its member countries and to foster increased cooperation and coordination on forests. [2]
In 2012, the Collaborative Partnership on Forests launched the Wangari Maathai Forest Champion Award to honour the life and work of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai.
Winners include:
The United Nations Economic and Social Council is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields of the organization, specifically in regards to the fifteen specialised agencies, the eight functional commissions, and the five regional commissions under its jurisdiction.
Agenda 21 is a non-binding action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development. It is a product of the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. It is an action agenda for the UN, other multilateral organizations, and individual governments around the world that can be executed at local, national, and global levels. One major objective of the Agenda 21 initiative is that every local government should draw its own local Agenda 21. Its aim initially was to achieve global sustainable development by 2000, with the "21" in Agenda 21 referring to the original target of the 21st century.
The Forest Principles is a 1992 document produced at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. It is a non-legally binding document that makes several recommendations for conservation and sustainable development forestry.
The Global Policy Forum (GPF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in December 1993 and based in New York and Bonn .[1] The aim of the Global Policy Forum is to critically accompany and analyze developments in the United Nations and on the topic of global governance. Thereby a bridge between the international and the local level is to be built. GPF seeks to strengthen intergovernmental organizations and promote multilateralism based on solidarity, international law and the United Nations Charter. The Global Policy Forum also has consultative status on the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Jens Martens has been the GPF's executive director since 2014 and director of GPF Europe since its foundation in 2004.[2]
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