Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Legally Binding Agreement on Forests in Europe (INC-Forests2)

The Second Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Legally Binding Agreement on Forests in Europe (INC-Forests2) will convene from 3-7 September 2012 in Bonn, Germany.

INC-Forests was launched by the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe (“FOREST EUROPE”) held from 14-16 June 2011 in Oslo, Norway. FOREST EUROPE is a high-level political initiative founded in 1990 that works towards the protection and sustainable management of forests throughout the European region. Forty-six European countries and the European Union (EU), in cooperation with a range of international organizations, participate in FOREST EUROPE.

The FOREST EUROPE conference mandated INC-Forests to negotiate a legally binding agreement on forests in Europe with a completion deadline of 30 June 2013. The first session of INC-Forests was held from 27 February - 2 March in Vienna, Austria, and focused on providing guidance for the Committee Bureau to elaborate the initial negotiating text of the Agreement.

INC-Forests2 will hold a first reading of the negotiating text drafted by the Bureau, decide on the Agreement's structure, and if time allows, commence detailed consideration of Agreement content. INC-Forests2 is also expected to decide on the rest of the negotiating process, including a third session slated tentatively for 28 January - 1 February 2013 and a fourth session tentatively slated for May-June 2013, as well as any inter-sessional work.

Ingwald Gschwandtl