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All publications from the years 2008 to 2019 can be found here on our old website
The undeniable connection between nature, human health, and economic well-being has become more evident than ever during this time of crisis. Resilience is in our nature: IUCN and its Members are working to ensure a nature-based recovery that can deliver sustainable solutions, providing a foundation for a healthier relationship between humanity and the planet.
As indicated on the Fordaq website, Hans Fahrni, CEO of FACO Construction, is pleased with the effects of the log export ban on the timber industry in Gabon, where the majority of the forest area is FSC-certified (the government's goal is to certify all of them within 4 years).
The ATIBT and the Malaysian Timber Council (MTC) have recently held several online meetings to clarify their common issues for the development of a responsible tropical timber sector. These meetings have been preceded in recent years by annual meetings.
REN21’s Renewables in Cities Global Status Report (REC) series provides an overview of the status, trends and developments of renewable energy in cities, using the most up-to-date information and data available. The REC’s neutral, fact-based approach documents in detail the annual developments in policies, markets, investments and citizen action, with a particular focus on renewables in public, residential and commercial buildings as well as public and private urban transport. This report aims to inform decision makers and to create an active exchange of views and information around urban renewable energy.
The price of deforestation and degradation is enormous, said Robert Nasi, director general of CIFOR and managing director of CIFOR-ICRAF, speaking at the Global Forest Summit.
The crisis provoked by the coronavirus pandemic offers a chance to shift from a fossil-fuel based economy to a nature-based circular bioeconomy, said Britain’s heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles on Friday.
The UK and Norway launched an initiative on sustainable finance that will serve as a platform for British and Norwegian financial institutions to share knowledge and best practices focused on actionable climate solutions in the financial sector and explore the regulatory frameworks and investment decisions that would be necessary to achieve a zero-emissions economy.
The post-2020 global biodiversity framework (GBF) took center stage at the informal meeting in preparation for the third meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI-3), convened by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
UN-Water convened a three-day event to discuss accelerating progress towards water and sanitation for all by 2030, and a report that indicates ambitions for 2030 remain off-track. Participants were briefed on the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework, upcoming high-level events on water, and the preparatory process for the 2023 UN conference for the midterm review of the Water Action Decade.
The pandemic has tragically claimed millions of lives and placed countries in complete economic and social lockdown, with the threat of a global recession looming. But the pandemic is not just an immediate human health crisis; it also poses a long-term socio-economic ramifications for people who depend on natural resources such as timber, fisheries and wildlife.
This Sunday, 21 March, is the United Nations International Day of Forests (IDF), intended to celebrate and raise global awareness of the importance of forests. The theme is "Forest restoration: a path to recovery and well-being", a cause that Fern championed in our recent report looking at how rights-based forest restoration can empower communities, recover biodiversity, and tackle the climate crisis. It also explained that forest restoration must never be used to greenwash other sectors' lack of action towards climate objectives.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) and its partners have signed implementation agreements for two new climate finance projects only hours after they were approved by the GCF Board.
Elon Musk tweeted earlier this year that he would be "donating $100 million towards a prize for best carbon capture technology”. Out of 600 thousand likes and retweets, twenty thousand corresponded to a brilliant solution: “A tree”. The Tesla boss responded that trees were, indeed, part of the solution, but that we may require something that is “ultra-large-scale industrial in 10 to 20 years”. The sense of acting ‘urgently’ and at ‘scale’ are clearly central to the concepts of innovations announced in his offer.
19. February 2020 | In the past, Germany has been among the more ambitious providers of financial assistance to developing countries’ efforts to adapt to a changing climate and cut or avoid greenhouse gas emissions.
The findings and recommendations in this Toolkit were identified based on a meta-review of program evaluations and scholarly research in French and English, supplemented by a series of key informant interviews with program implementers. The Toolkit was validated through review by an Advisory Council of external civil society practitioners and researchers as well as practitioners from Search for Common Ground’s field offices across the Sudano-Sahel (Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Nigeria, Niger, South Sudan, Sudan).
Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for the International Day of Forests, observed on 21 March: Humanity’s well-being is inextricably linked to the health of our planet. Forests play a crucial role.
February saw the 13th session of our Advisory Board meeting, held in Brazzaville, where our workplan and budget for 2021 were finalised and approved. This year will see a whole host of developments from the park - from new construction, including schools, markets and clean-water pumps, to new projects, such as the Makao community pharmacy, due to be launched in March 2021. We here at the park look forward to getting stuck into these challenges.
The following projects are relevant to the Congo Basin: (1)USD 29 million for PREFOREST CONGO - Project aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from forests in five departments in the Republic of Congo with the FAO (FP159) – (2) USD 280 million for Sustainable Renewables Risk Mitigation Initiative (SRMI) Facility with World Bank in Botswana, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Mali, Namibia, Uzbekistan (FP163) – (3) - USD 82.8 million for The Africa Integrated Climate Risk Management Programme: Building resilience of smallholder farmers to climate change impacts in 7 Sahelian Countries of the Great Green Wall (GGW) with IFAD in Burkina Faso, Chad, Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal (FP162).
large numbers of elephants, chimpanzees and gorillas, as well as numerous other species and habitats. The area covers some 178,000 square kilometres, 97 percent of which is forest, making it a large and productive carbon sink. Illegal logging, large-scale mining, poaching, and forest conversion for commodity crops has made the area vulnerable and is threatening its ecosystem. A comprehensive effort is underway to combat wildlife crime, designate protected areas and institute sustainable forest management. The World Bank Carbon Fund has earmarked $280 million in climate finance to reduce forest emissions in the area.
The African Adaptation Initiative and GCA consolidated their partnership with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to support African leadership to accelerate climate change adaptation across the continent.
RFUK, Greenpeace and Congolese civil society groups are calling on the DRC Government to revoke three million hectares of illegal logging concessions or risk wrecking its image on the international climate stage.
RFUK has long understood that women have a central role to play in protecting and managing the world’s rainforests. They are the main providers of food, water and medicine to their families, who depend greatly on rainforests for their livelihoods. They hold vast traditional knowledge of their forests and their biodiversity. This understanding informs our work and that of our partner organisations in Africa and Peru. We look to help women to defend their rights and to play a greater role in deciding how their traditional forests are managed.
In the upcoming Trilogue negotiations on the European Climate Law, there is a crucial choice to be made about the balance between emission reductions in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and Effort Sharing Regulation sectors, and carbon removals in the Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forestry (LULUCF) sector. Near-term emission reductions with only minimum reliance on carbon dioxide removal (CDR) are hugely important to avoid both intolerable risks of overshooting 1.5°C rise, and of aggravating the social risks of large-scale CDR.
While business opportunities are scarce in small villages of northern Congo, determination, skill, and support from her community helped Maman Saida to open her own restaurant in Bomassa, at the entrance of Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park. An amazing story of success that deserves to be highlighted on this International Women Day....
The Great Green Wall is a symbol of hope in the face of one of the biggest challenges of our time – desertification. Launched in 2007 by the African Union, this game-changing African-led initiative aims to restore Africa’s degraded landscapes and transform millions of lives in one of the world’s poorest regions, the Sahel. Once complete, the Wall will be the largest living structure on the planet – an 8,000 km natural wonder of the world stretching across the entire width of the continent.
In a new report launched on World Wildlife Day, WWF and TRAFFIC highlight mainland France’s and French overseas’ role in the trade of CITES1 species. With millions of wildlife specimens in trade to/from France each year, France is a significant trader in the EU. Accordingly, France also has a key role to play in preventing the over-exploitation of wildlife, by continuing to ensure the effective implementation of CITES and combating wildlife trafficking.
Keeping tabs on the quantity of carbon stored in forests is a vital part of global efforts to curb planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. Protecting and sustainably managing forests could contribute up to 30 percent of the goal established by the U.N. Paris Agreement on climate change, which aims to prevent mean annual temperatures from rising more than 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times.
Developing biofuel-based regenerative supply systems can deliver much-needed energy to consumers in the global south and prevent the collapse of ecosystems, while contributing to the efficiency of a circular bioeconomy, according to scientists.
This letter was sent to President of the European Commission von der Leyen, Executive Vice-President Timmermans, Commissioner Simson, Commissioner Sinkevičus , Minister Matos Fernandes, MEP Guteland and other Members of the European Parliament, and Members of Coreper II.
Reference is made to Notification 2020-050 issued on 14 July 2020, by which the Secretariat had informed Parties and observers of revised dates (17 to 30 May 2021) for the Fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, and the Fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization.
Forests are good for our physical and mental wellbeing. Spending time around trees helps boost our immune system, lowers blood pressure and promotes relaxation. From cleaner air to providing natural cooling and the freshwater we drink, forests support our health in ways that may not be visible.
Liu Zhenmin, head of the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), issued the call during a virtual event to commemorate the International Day of Forests, observed annually on 21 March. He said the forest sector has provided essential and lifesaving health products during the pandemic, such as face masks, cleaning supplies and ethanol used in sanitizers.
The lead up to the UN Biodiversity Conference in Kunming, China, provides the global community with further opportunities to galvanize efforts at all levels to build a better future in harmony with nature.
The 2019 Annual Report on Major Deforestation Events (EMD), based on the Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) Alert Tools, whose first issue is presented here was produced by the Forest Cover Monitoring Operational Unit (UOSCF), established by Decree No. 0086/ MINFOF/C2D-PSFE2 of May 18, 2016.
The world’s first complete historical and current overview reveals that two thirds of the tropical rainforest on Earth are gone or degraded. Rainforest Foundation Norway launches the unique State of the Tropical Rainforest Report at the beginning of a significant year for environmental protection, with the UN biodiversity and climate change summits providing opportunities for accelerated global efforts.
Since the start of GEF-7 in 2018, the LDCF has approved 51 new LDCF projects for close to $350 million in grant resources in 38 out of the 47 LDCs:Afghanistan, Angol, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Djibouti, Ethiopia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kiribati, Lao PDR, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, South Sudan, Sudan,Tanzania, The Gambia, Timor Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Yemen, Zambia...
Cooperation between the Garoua Wildlife School, the European Union and Germany. On Tuesday, 16 February 2021, the official handing over ceremony of camping and field communication equipment took place at the Garoua School of Wildlife.
Under the high patronage of Mr. Jules Doret NDONGO, the Cameroon Minister of Forestry and Wildlife and Acting Chairman of the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) and with the support of German Cooperation through the GIZ " Regional Project to Support COMIFAC", a sub-regional workshop was held from March 1 to 4, 2021 in Douala, Cameroon, to validate the 2021-2025 Operational Plan of the Sub-regional Convergence Plan and report on the first conclusions of the mid-term evaluation of the same Plan.
Yaoundé, March 5, 2021 - The Central African region is gripped by several humanitarian crises, resulting in high numbers of displaced people (refugees and internally displaced persons), especially in the Central African Republic, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Read: A webinar series organized by the World Bank's Partnership for Market Readiness (PMR) to celebrate a decade of collective work on carbon pricing; Regional Working Group Calls…
February at the LWC has delivered more hurdles than we could have imagined, after an already very challenging few months. Not only are we still recovering from the loss of our beloved Akiba and the second wave of Covid-19 hitting Cameroon, but we are experiencing a calamitous epidemic among our drill population. Thankfully our dedicated vet team was able to contain the outbreak with only a few casualties, but are now left with a large deficit in our budget, leaving us very vulnerable to any future unforeseen situations.
Read: Wildlife: The pangolin has never been a particularly eye-catching species, unlike others such as elephants, gorillas or whales, or even a well-known one…. Discover the Biodiversity of the DSPA: The main characteristic that this mammal possesses is that it is covered in big scales over the majority of its body… Community Development…
On behalf of the FSC team that works with tropical timber and forestry, I will briefly present our seventh newsletter. An introduction that usually is done by our dear colleague Ben Romein, who unfortunately is on sick leave at the moment. We are happy to hear that he is doing better and we can’t wait to get him back on the team.
For 26 Congolese women, this year’s International Women’s Day will be remembered as the beginning of an unprecedented journey towards a livelihood they could never otherwise have imagined – and along the way, educating their husbands, families and future co-workers on equality and empowerment.
UN entities and energy experts have launched substantive preparations for a summit-level meeting on energy in September 2021. Five thematic working groups are meeting virtually to identify roadmaps to achieving SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy) by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050. The High-level Dialogue on Energy will be convened by the UN Secretary-General under the auspices of the UN General Assembly.
Pushed off their customary lands and severed from their traditional way of life, Indigenous communities living on roadsides in the tropical forests of Central Africa face perilous conditions. The livelihoods of about 10,000 Baka Pygmies in southeastern Cameroon are in jeopardy, according to a new study in Scientific Reports led by scientists with the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), which shows their available hunting area is at risk.
Three years on, the NDC Partnership’s hard work is bearing fruit. Together, we are producing country led plans that offer a pathway to achieving the low-carbon, climate-resilient societies envisaged by the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Across the world, our country members and institutional partners collaborate to cut economy-wide emissions, build sustainable communities, mobilize financial and technical support, and engage civil society.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has joined forces with Pegasus Capital Advisors and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in an innovative bundling of public-private financing to plug a funding gap for sub-national climate initiatives.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is heeding calls to help developing countries bolster their defences against the increasingly damaging effects of climate change, while overcoming COVID-19 fiscal constraints.
On Feb. 23, the United Nations Security Council will meet to discuss the threat that climate change poses to global peace. The question is no longer whether global warming sparks the flames of conflict; it is about where climate shocks are likely to tip already fragile situations into war or civil strife.
The Children and Youth Major Group to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) organized a virtual Youth Environment Assembly to coordinate, mobilize, and build capacity ahead of the fifth UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5). Participation was open to any youth and youth organizations to discuss and identify their broader priorities for environmental action.
The 2021 Desertification and Drought Day to be held on 17 June will focus on turning degraded land into healthy land. Restoring degraded land brings economic resilience, creates jobs, raises incomes and increases food security. It helps biodiversity to recover. It locks away the atmospheric carbon warming the Earth, slowing climate change. It can also lessen the impacts of climate change and underpin a green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Land is the foundation of our societies and is a cornerstone to global food security and environmental health, zero hunger, poverty eradication and affordable energy. It underpins the success of the entire 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Developmen, and yet this finite resource is under existential threat.
Cambridge, UK: 16th February 2020 - With governments meeting this week to discuss targets and indicators for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, TRAFFIC urges Parties to strengthen global efforts to ensure trade and use of species is legal, at sustainable levels and safe, and effectively measure progress on the implementation of these efforts.
Read: Building back better through the Landscape Agenda; Update on 1000 Landscapes for 1 Billion People initiative; Join our virtual FAO-EcoAgriculture Partners Independent Dialogue for the UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) on March 30th “Strengthening landscape partnerships”...
World Wildlife Day will be celebrated in 2021 under the theme "Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet", as a way to highlight the central role of forests, forest species and ecosystems services in sustaining the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people globally, and particularly of Indigenous and local communities with historic ties to forested and forest-adjacent areas.
This 2019 Annual Report on Landmark Deforestation Events (LDEs) based on Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) alert tools, the first of its kind, is produced by the Operational Unit for Forest Cover Monitoring (UOSCF), set up by Order No 0086/MINFOF/C2D-PSFE2 of 18 May 2016.
Bonn/ New York, 26 February 2021 – UN Climate Change today published the Initial NDC Synthesis Report, showing nations must redouble efforts and submit stronger, more ambitious national climate action plans in 2021 if they’re to achieve the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global temperature rise by 2°C—ideally 1.5°C—by the end of the century.
The COP 25 Presidency and the incoming COP 26 Presidency will hold monthly multilateral consultations with Group Chairs and Heads of Delegation covering topics that will be central to COP 26. The monthly multilateral consultations are stepping stones to COP 26: a chance for Parties to move together towards COP 26, identifying and testing solutions to key topics along the way.
Climate shocks such as record high temperatures and a “new normal” of wildfires, floods and droughts, are not only damaging the natural environment, said UN chief António Guterres, but also threatening political, economic and social stability.
Brazzaville, Congo, March 2, 2021 (ECA) - Good quality data and statistics are important for informing development decisions and Africa should not be found wanting as it seeks to meet the global 2030 Agenda for sustainable development and Africa’s Agenda 2063, experts say.
Brazzaville, Congo, March 2, 2021 (ECA) – Before the onset of the deadly novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Africa was recording positive growth rates but not enough to achieve the sustainable development goals, says Economic Commission for Africa’s Bartholomew Armah.
Brazzaville, Congo, March 2nd, 2020 (ECA) - Can African countries still achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030? African growth trajectories and the impact of COVID19 are currently shedding doubts on countries’ ability to reach this objective, unless the region achieves faster growth than before the pandemic in the upcoming years.
Addis Ababa, 2 March 2021, ECA – The Economic commission for Africa (ECA) in collaboration with five other partners is organizing a two-day high-level event on investment facilitation for development for African countries starting on 3 March.
Community-Based Forest Management (CBFM) is the management, by communities or smallholders, of forests and agroforests they own, as well as the management of state-owned forests (some of which share customary tenure and rights under traditional laws and practice) by communities.
The second independent verification of the milestones of the Letter of Intent between the DRC and CAFI analysed the level of achievement of intermediate milestones (2018) and progress towards final milestones (2020).
The objective of this study was to map out international funding flows, which will support the forest and environmental sectors in CA. This will serve as background for the policy analysis paper. Specific objectives include: (a) analysis of financing flows directed to CA over the last decade in support of nature conservation, sustainable forest management and climate change; (b) presentation of themes or areas covered by the current financing flows and identification of possible imbalances and gaps; (c) provision of a comparative analysis between financing flows to CA and those directed to Tropical America (Amazon Basin) and Tropical Asia (Southeast Asia); and (d) identification of needs and opportunities for financing the forest and environmental sectors of CA.