On 2 November, leaders of more than 130 countries signed a Declaration on Forests and Land Use, emphasising the critical roles of forests of all types for meeting international climate targets. The countries endorsing this declaration make up over 90% of the world’s forest cover and committed to “working collectively to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030 while delivering sustainable development and promoting an inclusive rural transformation”. Among others the declaration contains the pledge to strengthen efforts in forest conservation and restoration, as well as in trade and development policies that do not drive deforestation and land degradation.
Later on 2 November, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a support package of 1 billion EUR as the European Union contribution to the Global Forests Finance Pledge. This 5-year support package from the EU budget intends to help partner countries to protect, restore and sustainably manage forests worldwide and deliver on the Paris Agreement. Von der Leyen stated in a speech that “This is a clear sign of the EU's commitment to lead global change to protect our planet, in line with our EU Green Deal.”
Forest owners were represented at COP26 by the International Family Forestry Alliance (IFFA)
In addition to the main events during COP26, several countries and organisations arranged side-events. One of these was a panel discussion hosted by the Nordic Co-operation on 5 November under the title "Data for forest and farming - building from below". Among the panellists, Lennart Ackzell, Senior Advisor at CEPF’s member LRF represented IFFA. While underlining the importance of the discussion on deforestation that was held earlier at COP26, he emphasised that smallholders should get the right incentives for planting trees as this will help to mitigate climate change in a fundamental way. Moreover, he stated that “digitalisation can provide an opportunity to accurately recognise what small forest holders are doing by planting trees.”
