Forest Day 4 : Time To Act
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Date: Sunday, 5 December 2010
Location: Cancún Center, Cancún, Mexico
Organisers: Center for International Forestry Research, Collaborative Partnership on Forests, Government of Mexico, Mexico National Forestry Commission.
Forest Day 4: Progress, Challenges and Opportunities For Making REDD+ A Global Reality
More than 1,500 leading forestry experts, activists, policymakers, global leaders, and climate change negotiators will gather on the sidelines of UNFCCC COP-16 for the fourth annual Forest Day to discuss the urgency of ensuring the survival of the world's forests, the biodiversity they embrace and the hundreds of millions of people who depend on them.
Forest Day is one of the world's leading global platforms for anyone with an interest in forests and climate change to come together with others and exchange their views. Previous Forest Days focused on placing the role of forests in mitigating and adapting to climate change at the forefront of climate negotiations. The theme for Forest Day 4 is “Time to Act,” highlighting the urgency of ensuring the survival of the world’s forests, the biodiversity they embrace and the hundreds of millions of people who depend on them.
Participants at Forest Day 4 will discuss the latest on the UNFCCC negotiations toward an agreement on REDD+, which could see billions of dollars mobilized to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by avoiding deforestation, as well as protecting and increasing the world’s forests.
Forest Day 4 will also feature three high-level Sub-Plenary Sessions encompassing the importance of biodiversity in forests, the challenges to adapting to climate change, and a focus on REDD+ mechanisms as a mitigation tool, including the role of financing.
Among the speakers will be more than 50 of the world’s top scientists, policymakers, donors and leaders of indigenous communities - all aiming to inform the global climate agenda.
Key topics to be explored and debated include:
Mitigation & economic development: With most developing countries emitting about two-thirds of their greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and land-use change, how can they continue to develop while also meeting carbon reduction targets? What is the role of REDD+ and how should funds be distributed?
Illegal logging & corruption: With REDD+ offering an opportunity for unprecedented levels of performance-related financing to protect the world’s forests, what can be done to improve governance and crack down on graft?
Local communities and indigenous peoples’ rights: While experience has highlighted the importance of local communities’ and indigenous peoples’ involvement in sustainable forest management, what role should they play in REDD+ negotiations and implementation?
Monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV): If REDD+ is going to work, there has to be a robust, transparent and cost-efficient MRV system. What are the challenges to reaching agreement on how exactly this should be done at national and sub-national levels?
Forest Day 4 will serve as a bridge between the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity and the 2011 International Year of Forests.
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