GovWire

• World Leaders from 26 countries and the EU will come together today to launch the Forests and Climate Leaders Partnership (FCLP) at the inaugural Forest and Climate Leaders Summit
• The Partnership will help to deliver the commitment made at COP26 by over 140 world leaders to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030 while delivering sustainable development and promoting an inclusive rural transformation.
• The new Partnership will unite action by government, business and community leaders, and shine a spotlight on global progress at COP27 and every year up to 2030.
• Leaders including President Macron of France, President Petro of Colombia and President Akufo-Addo of Ghana welcomed the creation of the partnership as a crucial delivery mechanism to deliver global forest and land use commitments
• The new Partnership will be co-chaired by the USA and Ghana, who will preside over the first Ministerial meeting of FCLP members on 12 November.

Today at the Forest and Climate Leaders Summit at COP27, 26 countries and the EU are announcing a commitment to join the Forest and Climate Leaders Partnership to scale up action to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030 while delivering sustainable development and promoting an inclusive rural transformation.

These actions are fundamental to adapting to climate change and have the potential to deliver up to 30% of the emissions reductions needed to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, while securing global biodiversity, economic prosperity and food supplies.

The launch of the Forests and Climate Leaders Partnership (FCLP) follows from the package of announcements at COP26 in Glasgow last year, where over 140 world leaders, representing over 90% of the worlds forests, committed to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030 while delivering sustainable development and promoting an inclusive rural transformation.

The Partnership offers a way to enhance cooperation on delivery of these commitments, to scale ambition and to find innovative solutions to ongoing problems. By joining, countries are committing to lead by example in the implementation of their national goals and striving to be more ambitious over time. They are also committing to enhance collective efforts to maximise the contribution of forests and sustainable land use to global and national climate and biodiversity goals, and to meet annually to take stock of progress.

Every member is committing to play a leadership role to drive forward at least one of the FCLPs action areas, which are:

• International collaboration on the sustainable land use economy;
• Mobilising public and donor finance to support implementation;
• Shifting the private finance system;
• Supporting Indigenous Peoples and local communities initiatives;
• Strengthening and scaling carbon markets for forests; and
• Partnerships and incentives for preserving high-integrity forests.

The launch brings together World Leaders from FCLP member countries including the leaders of the United States of America and Ghana, who will be the first co-chairs. Member countries represent the northern forests of Canada, the tropical and subtropical rainforests of the Amazon, Australasia, Africa and Asia, and the financial and economic centres of the world. Together, they will focus their combined weight on transformational areas of action.

Members will work closely with the private sector, civil society, international and multilateral organisations and community leaders to implement and rapidly scale up solutions on deforestation, forest degradation, reforestation and sustainable forest and land use management, that reflect each members national context and priorities as well as the urgency of the global climate and biodiversity crises.

At the inaugural meeting at COP27, member countries will take stock of progress since COP26 and discuss key insights, successes, challenges and priorities for future collaboration. The meeting will follow the Forest and Climate Leaders Summit at which members spoke alongside other countries and business and community leaders to highlight the most ambitious commitments and the strongest examples of progress since COP26.

List of members of the Forest and Climate Leaders Partnership

1. Commonwealth of Australia
2. Canada
3. Republic of Colombia
4. Congo
5. Republic of Costa Rica
6. Republic of Ecuador
7. European Union
8. Republic of Finland
9. Republic of Fiji
10. Republic of France
11. Gabon
12. Federal Republic of Germany
13. Republic of Ghana
14. Republic of Guyana
15. Republic of Indonesia (is especially considering joining the FCLP)
16. Japan
17. Republic of Kenya
18. Republic of Korea
19. Kingdom of Netherlands
20. Federal Republic of Nigeria
21. Kingdom of Norway
22. Islamic Republic of Pakistan
23. Republic of Singapore
24. Kingdom of Sweden
25. United Republic of Tanzania
26. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
27. United States of America

Quotes

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak:

For too long the worlds forests have been undervalued and underestimated. They are one of the great natural wonders of our world, and with the loss of our forests accounting for more than 10% of global emissions, protecting them is one of the best ways of getting us back on track to 1.5 degrees.

Thats why the UK put nature at the heart of COP26, and countries home to 90 per cent of the worlds forests committed not just to halting but reversing forest loss and land degradation by 2030.

Lets build on what we have achieved and together secure this incredible legacy for our children and the many generations to come.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana:

Forest loss can be averted. There is, however, the need for a dedicated space, globally, to provide the needed support and accountability checks to countries that are committed to delivering the Glasgow Leaders Declaration. The Forest and Climate Leaders Partnership is a first and key step towards this goal, and Ghana supports and endorses fully the FCLP.

President Mohamed Irfaan Ali of Guyana:

Ambition to protect the worlds forests has never been in short supply in forest communities and countries. What has been missing is the means to realise that ambition. The Forest and Climate Leaders Partnership can rapidly change this situation - by bringing Heads of Government together to focus on practical solutions. Guyana will play its part in highlighting leadership from forest communities and countries. We will put forward solutions that we know can work because of our own experience. The worlds people do not need more talk, they need action that converts ambition into results, and I hope the FCLP will be the platform to achieve this.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada:

There is no path to fighting climate change and building a healthy future that does not involve forests. At home, Canada is working in partnership with Indigenous communities, while taking historic steps like our commitment to plant 2 billion trees over the coming decade. To bring this work to the world stage, we are pleased to be joining the Forests and Climate Leaders Partnership. Together, we can maximize the role of forests in the fight against climate change and in our shared work to build a bright future.

President Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon:

Gabon is proud to be part of the Forest and Climate Leaders Partnership. As a climate pioneer, net absorbing over 100 million tons of CO2 every year into our forests, Gabon has already achieved and indeed exceeded the Paris objective of carbon neutrality. We have achieved this through development solutions that build a forest positive economy and provide employment, thereby giving our forests true value and ensuring that they remain standing. For these climate services to be maintained, we need to dramatically scale up action and investment, to deliver for people, for our climate and for our forests. The Partnership provides us with a forum to address these major challenges and enact real change before it is too late.

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store of Norway:

We will not reach the goals of the Paris Agreement without halting and reversing forest loss and land degradation by 2030. Achieving this will require unprecedented leadership and collaboration from governments, business, civil society and indigenous peoples. Norway joins the Forest and Climate Leaders Partnership committed to work together with tropical forest countries and other like minded countries in pursuit of this goal.

President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on behalf of the European Union:

Only with healthy forests we can deliver on our shared climate commitments under the Paris Agreement. And only with intact lively forests we can address biodiversity. We know that, yet the figures on global deforestation remain alarming. We need to act, and we need to act with urgency. This is not only important for the protection of nature, but also for the preservation of the economic livelihood of millions of people, which depends on the existence of sustainable and healthy forests. The EU is doing its share and we are keen to work with partners worldwide to make sure we halt deforestation by 2030. I am confident the Forest and Climate Leaders Partnership which the EU joins today will help us get there.

Chancellor Scholz of Germany:

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