At COP26, over 140 world leaders committed to “halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030, whilst delivering sustainable development and promoting an inclusive rural transformation.”
Delivering on this headline objective will require a major shift in the way we manage, use and value natural carbon-rich ecosystems, so that sustaining forests is a positive development choice for governments, private sector and indigenous peoples and local communities.
Achieving this systemic change will require high-level political leadership, nationally and internationally, to mobilise the scale of policies, partnerships and resources needed. It requires new collaborations, integration of objectives across organisations, the development of solutions to common challenges and accountability to deliver.
The Forest & Climate Leaders’ Partnership – FCLP will work with existing initiatives and organisations to deliver ambition in six specific areas which underpin the commitments set out at COP26, and meet annually to ensure we are on track.
COP26 Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forests and Land Use Read Full Article
About
The Forest & Climate Leaders’ Partnership (FCLP) is a focused effort of governments with partners committed to expanding and maintaining high-level political leadership on forests, land-use and climate, to work together to implement solutions that reduce forest loss, increase restoration and support sustainable development, and to ensure accountability for the pledges that have been made.
Founding Members of the Forest & Climate Leaders’ Partnership:
Commonwealth of Australia , Canada , Republic of Colombia , Republic of Congo, Republic of Costa Rica , Republic of Ecuador , European Union , Republic of Finland , Republic of Fiji , Republic of France, Gabon , Federal Republic of Germany, Republic of Ghana, Republic of Guyana, Japan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Korea, Kingdom of Netherlands, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Kingdom of Norway, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Republic of Singapore, Kingdom of Sweden, United Republic of Tanzania, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America and Vietnam.
Specific features of the FCLP include:
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A unifying goal: to work together to accelerate global progress to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030, whilst delivering sustainable development and promoting an inclusive rural transformation. This reflects the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 15), the UN Strategic Plan on Forests and other relevant initiatives.
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A high ambition group of participating countries signed up to this goal, representative of a range of regions, major forest areas, and centres of commerce and finance. The Partnership is open to working with additional countries, but it pursues all avenues to keep the work of the FCLP as ambitious and focused as possible, complementing existing multilateral and bilateral processes.
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Underpinned by six voluntary action areas to which governments with partners channel their combined senior engagement and support . These focus on policy-alignment benefits for international systems and giving critical mass to transformational existing and new/scalable voluntary initiatives that will have significant impact in a range of countries, with a view to achieving accelerated outcomes.
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An annual event that provides a high-profile public platform for Leaders, Ministers and key nonstate actors to showcase progress and action. This will be the pre-eminent moment on forests and climate in the annual calendar. It will shine a bright spotlight on progress and serve as a forcing point for policy decisions and announcements every year in this critical decade. In 2026, this will be a Heads of State level event, reflecting the whole-of-government effort under the FCLP.
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Framed by a global progress report to inform the prioritisation of work under the FCLP’s action areas and the agenda of the annual event, highlighting key progress made, and opportunities for collective efforts to step up. In 2026, a special report will be prepared for Heads of State of participating countries highlighting progress since Glasgow.
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Supported by a dedicated secretariat for the effective functioning of the FCLP, which oversees an efficient system of governance through which countries can shape the work of the Partnership.
Mission Statement
The FCLP aims to accelerate global progress to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030, while delivering sustainable development and promoting an inclusive rural transformation, through a voluntary and focused partnership of countries that are making a strong contribution to this agenda through national action and international collaboration.
Read the launch statement from COP27
Objectives
To achieve its Mission Statement the FCLP, through the leadership of Heads of State and Ministers, providing its combined political support to Action Areas, and working closely with the private sector, civil society, Indigenous Peoples' and local community organisations and other key international and non-state actors, it is expected to:
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provide a solutions-focused political forum to highlight implementation progress and identify shared strategic challenges and opportunities for collaboration;
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leverage Head of State and Ministerial leadership to amplify attention to specific challenges and solutions;
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provide its combined political support to accelerate and scale implementation of a prioritised number of Action Areas, strongly aligned with the Mission Statement and Objectives of the Partnership; and
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support implementation of the participating countries’ self-determined national goals and encourage all countries to be even more ambitious over time.
Action areas
The Forest & Climate Leaders’ Partnership (FCLP) will work with existing initiatives and organisations to deliver ambition in six specific areas which underpin the commitments set out at COP26.
We have started making the necessary changes but they all must be accelerated.
Everyone has a role, what is yours?
COP27
COP27 World Leaders’ Summit
The Forest & Climate Leaders’ Partnership was launched at the Forests & Climate Leaders’ Partnership Summit on Monday 7th November 2022 at UNFCCC COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh.
At this event, leaders publicly set out their vision for the new Partnership and how it will contribute to the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use goal to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030 whilst delivering sustainable development and promoting an inclusive rural transformation.
Link to recording of Forests & Climate Leaders’ Partnership Summit at COP27.
The first meeting of the Summit was a closed door government meeting held on Saturday 12th November, also at COP27.
See below for the Event Summary, plus the key publications from initiatives across the six FCLP action areas featured at this event:
- Forest & Climate Leaders’ Summit – COP27 Event Summary Download PDF
- Action area 1 - International collaboration on the sustainable land use economy and supply chains.
- FACT Roadmap Visit Link
- FACT Progress Report Visit Link
- Action area 2 - Mobilising public and donor finance to support implementation.
- Global Forest Finance Pledge 2021 Report Download PDF
- Congo Basin Pledge 2021 Report Download PDF
- Restoration Press release
- Action area 3 - Shifting the private finance system.
- GFANZ Statement from NYCW Visit Link
- IFACC Visit Link
- Forest Investor Club Visit Link
- Commitment on Eliminating Agricultural Commodity-Driven Deforestation. Visit Link
- Action area 4 - Supporting Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ initiatives.
- IPLC Forest Tenure Pledge 2021 Report Download PDF
- Action area 5 - Strengthening and scaling carbon markets for forests.
- LEAF press release Download PDF
COP26 World Leaders’ Summit
In 2021, at UNFCCC COP26, over 140 leaders, accounting for more than 90% of the world’s forests, committed to work together to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030, whilst delivering sustainable development and promoting an inclusive rural transformation in the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use.
Supporting the GLD, an ambitious package of initiatives was announced, which included the Forests, Agriculture Commodity Trade (FACT) dialogue road map along with $19.2 billion of public and private finance to support countries to deliver on the headline 2030 political target. Delivery of the GLD would reduce emissions by 3.5Gt CO2/year by 2030, 10% of the overall mitigation action needed to keep 1.5 alive.
More information, including a list of countries who have endorsed the GLD and a link to the event video at COP26 can be found here.
Latest News
Forest & Climate Leaders’ Partnership Updates
The FCLP, launched at the inaugural Forest and Climate Leaders’ Summit at COP27, is a voluntary partnership of 32 countries and the European Union committed to delivery, accountability and innovation following the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use, which was endorsed by more than 140 world leaders at COP26.
- Leaders expand on Glasgow legacy to join the Forest & Climate Leaders’ Partnership Download PDF
- Peru and Norway to avdance global partnerships with indigenous peoples and local communities Read More