Opening Remarks / Keynote Address
UNFCCC COP27 side event, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,
I am pleased to extend to all of you a warm welcome to this important dialogue.
Today I wish to highlight for you the critical importance of healthy forests to ensuring that we meet the broader development goals that we have set as an international community.
We cannot address deforestation without recognising its links to poverty, industrial development, food and energy needs, and we certainly cannot divorce it from the impact of climate change.
The loss of forest cover caused by deforestation undermines our efforts to fight climate change, as it slows the pace of carbon absorption. Deforestation is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, and biodiversity loss.
The 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement, both highlight the need to halt deforestation, and ensure sustainable management of the world’s forests, and the UN Strategic Plan for Forests 2030 (UNSPF) seeks to accelerate those efforts. Last year, many countries also agreed on the Glasgow Declaration on Forests and Land Use, as an important initiative to address deforestation.
Dear Colleagues,
We must upscale our actions to implement the UNSPF and achieve its Global Forest Goals.
It is critical that the Global Environment Facility and the Green Climate Fund, include the implementation of UNSPF as eligible activities for funding.
We must also take the momentum from today into the 2023 SDG Summit, and address deforestation, as a key factor for making progress towards the SDGs.
In this light, we welcome the ongoing efforts by the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) to develop a Joint Initiative on Turning the Tide on Deforestation. I look forward to seeing this translate into concrete actions integrated into the operational programmes of CPF members.
As a member and the secretariat of the Partnership, we in the UN DESA stand ready to support and jointly advance the work of the Partnership.
Thank you.