The GPFLR partners actions at COP27

Beginning on 6 November, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) will host “A Flammable Planet: Wildfires and the future”. This event will serve as the launchpad of a new animated film on wildfires and climate change, followed by a panel discussion with experts on the causes of wildfires for incorporation into climate action plans.

November 9 will be a busy day for Forest and Landscape Restoration (FLR), with several events covering the different entry points of action needed to ensure the FLR approaches thrive. The day will start with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Regen10 partners showcasing knowledge and lessons learned from Indigenous Peoples’ regenerative food systems and their role to restore and protect forest and landscapes. Later that day, WWF will lead “Forests of the future: Scaling up restoration in Africa” to launch the FLR in Africa initiative, an ambitious effort for the restoration of 13.5 million hectares of degraded and deforested landscapes across nine countries by 2027. In the evening, the FAO Mountain Partnership will host an event on “Leading mountain sustainability through innovation” where IUCN and partners will raise the profile of approaches such as FLR to design effective measures for ecosystem-based adaptation.

On 10 November, WWF will host “Bringing Forests Forward: Scaling corporate action for nature, climate and people”, featuring a panel discussion with key companies, WWF landscape programme managers and forest management partners participating in Forests Forward.

The afternoon of November 11 will have interesting opportunities to exchange investments and strategies to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030 with three one-hour sessions hosted by IUCN, FAO and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBSCD). The sessions will showcase the role of business, subnational governments and Indigenous Peoples in the implementation of successful FLR action and other approaches to maximize mitigation and adaptation outcomes and investment.

In addition, the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) will showcase the effects that more than 10 years of REDD+ implementation have had on forests, carbon, biodiversity, and people during the session "REDD+ and forest landscape restoration: Stakeholder views and potential synergies". This event is  based on the recent publications Forest, Climate, Biodiversity and People: Assessing a Decade of REDD+ and A Decade of REDD+: Stakeholder Perceptions.  The panelists will describe and explain potential synergies between FLR (Forest Landscape Restoration) and REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation considering conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks), as well as provide insights on how local stakeholders perceive REDD+ implementation.

The GPFLR members Tropenbos International and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) will each host sessions on 12 November. Tropenbos International will co-host the panel session “Fire-smart landscapes as promising approach for effective adaptation and mitigation” with the Instituto Boliviano de Investigación Forestal (IBIF) as an opportunity to share integrated and context-specific fire management and risk reduction approaches that combine restoration practices and traditional knowledge. As for FSC, the event “Forests as climate solutions” will entail the launching of a multi-sectoral partnership and action platform.

IUCN and FAO, as co-leads of the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action Land Use Thematic Group, are hosting the Global Climate Action – Land Use action event “Landscapes for life: Demonstrating inclusive, just and resilient transformation of the land use sector”. The objective of this event is to mobilize actors to expand and accelerate their impact by showing inspiring land use sector examples that enhance resilience, strengthen adaptation, halve emissions and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.

Following these events, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) will lead the high-level ministerial side event “Towards global action for drought resilience” on 15 November to facilitate experience-sharing at the global, regional and national levels, putting a spotlight on the appropriate policy, advocacy, financing and implementation measures that are integrated, inclusive and sustainable. Furthermore, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will host the side event “Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework: Enhancing Action on Climate and Implementation of the SDGs” on 17 November to discuss how the post-2020 global biodiversity framework could support climate change adaptation and mitigation, as well as to accelerate progress on key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Members of the GPFLR will also participate in several sessions and side events. For example, the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) will be actively involved in multiple events organized by the Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH), Regreening Africa, the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) and The International “4 per 1000” Initiative. This includes the CA4SH sessions “Soil Health Resolution”, “Food Security Partnerships, Programs and Policy Solutions: The Ground We Need to Feed”, “Soils as an asset: Galvanizing public support to achieve our shared ambitions for NDCs” and “Taste the soil: the silent ally that feeds you”. Each session takes place on 11 November, along with the Regreening Africa session “GLF Climate Session”. Moreover, CGIAR will attend CDKN’s event “Reaching Resilience: African solutions for the African continent” on 15 November and the “4 per 1000” Initiative event “6th Day of the ‘4 per 1000’” on 16 November.

The prior mentioned events will play an important role at COP27 in progressing global forest and landscape restoration in the context of climate action rooted in science for a more sustainable and resilient future.

See below the detailed events, date, time and venue. 

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