Video Message at 2023 celebration of the International Day of Forests
Healthy Forests | Healthy People
Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,
I am pleased to extend a warm welcome to you at this special event on the International Day of Forests.
The theme of the 2023 International Day, “Forests and health” is particularly timely. We are currently facing a moment of confluence in planetary crises, when the health and the well-being of people hang in the balance. It is a stark reminder that we live in an interdependent world and that to heal our economies and societies, we need to restore the ecosystems we live in.
Forests are one of the Earth’s most valuable ecosystems when they are well managed. They give us clean air, drinkable fresh water, and productive soils. They protect us, serving as a natural buffer against the transmission of zoonoses, thus reducing the risk of future pandemics.
Recognising the vital importance of forests in sustainable development, a global framework for sustainable forest management, and tackling deforestation and forest degradation was set forth in the UN Strategic Plan for Forests 2030. The Strategic Plan is aligned with the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement through its Global Forest Goals and associated targets.
Forests offer a nature-based solution to many, if not most, of our most pressing development challenges, in combatting climate change and biodiversity loss, and as an essential component in post-pandemic recovery and economic stimulus packages. Through the Strategic Plan, the global forest community has called for urgent action to reverse forest loss, increase the world’s forest area by 3 per cent, and to eradicate extreme poverty for forest-dependent people.
Yet despite their undeniable benefits for a healthy environment, forests continue to be under threat. Every year, seven million hectares of natural forests are converted to other land uses including large-scale commercial agriculture and other economic activities. The drivers of this land conversion are cross-sectoral; deforestation cannot be tackled unless we also address its links to poverty, industrial development, and food and energy needs.
Extreme poverty is on the rise, with indications that the combined effects of the lingering pandemic, rising inflation and ongoing conflicts could lead to a net increase of 75 to 95 million people in extreme poverty. At the same time climate change, if it continues to be uncurbed, is expected to drive up to 130 million people into poverty over the next decade.
Forests are a vital safety net for communities living in extreme poverty. Over 90 per cent of people living in extreme poverty, including indigenous peoples, small farm holders, and other forest-dependent communities, rely on forests for food, fodder, shelter, energy, medicine, and income.
As we look to regain lost ground in achieving the SDGs, addressing deforestation and promoting sustainable forest management has to be part of our toolkit for eradicating poverty, meeting people’s urgent and basic needs, and tackling global challenges.
This September, Heads of State and Government will gather here in New York for the SDG Summit. The Summit is an opportunity to renew commitment to whole-of-society and whole-of-government approaches, through transformative policies which mobilize science, technology, and finance, and ultimately create a greener future for all. Healthy forests and healthy people must be at the heart of this.
I thank you.