8 November 2016

COP22 Forests

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Achievement of the Paris Agreement goals will be impossible without action to protect, restore, and sustainably manage all types of forests. Limiting global warming to well below 2 (or to 1.5) degrees requires a rapid halt to deforestation and reaching a carbon balance by the second half of this century necessitates massive forest restoration. Healthy forests also play a central role in creating resilient societies that can adapt to climate change. Existing forests already remove over 2 Gigatonnes of our carbon emissions from the atmosphere annually, hence conservation and sustainable management of forest represent one of the largest, most cost-effective responses to climate challenges. The Forest Action events at COP 22 provided an opportunity to bring together state and non-state actors -- governments, businesses, civil society groups, and indigenous peoples’ organizations -- to take stock of progress made, and identify challenges as well as opportunities for increased contributions of conservation and sustainable management of forests to climate change mitigation and adaptation, and for streamlining and scaling up of financing mechanisms necessary to achieve this.

 Press Release: The Forest Transformation is Happening Now