FOREST EUROPE SETS A NEW TIME HORIZON

1 nov 2015

Report from the Extraordinary Ministerial Conference

The FOREST EUROPE Extraordinary Ministerial Conference was held on the afternoon of 21 October 2015, immediately after the 7th FOREST EUROPE Ministerial Conference. This Conference met with the specific aim of receiving the results of the intergovernmental negotiations carried out from February 2012 to November 2013, following the Oslo Ministerial Mandate for Negotiating a Legally Binding Agreement on Forests in Europe.

Ministers decided to come back no later than 2020

The Extraordinary Forest Europe Conference went well and the ministers decided to come back to the issue of a LBA for Europe no later than 2020. That is, the decision as drafted and proposed as one of the documents for the Conference well in advance of the meeting was well received and unanimously adopted (see https://www.foresteuropemadrid2015.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/EMC_MadridMinisterialDecision.pdf.

Action should be taken rather soon

Several countries proposed that action should be taken rather soon, with the aim to find a solution for achieving an LBA by agreeing upon the remaining pending issues. That gives hope that the process could be re-started at an appropriate time. For that, a new mandate has to be given.

The efforts have strengthen the sustainable forest management in Europe

The Chair of the INC for a LBA on Forests in Europe, delivered the report on the INC work, which you can find below. The efforts and work by the chair, the Bureau and the committee received the thanks by almost all delegations who spoke.

INC Chair report 19 Oct final FINAL JH

Read more about Forest Europe at https://www.foresteuropemadrid2015.org/

 

Jan Heino, Chair of the INC for a LBA on Forests in Europe

Editor: Fredrik Ingemarson, SIFI

Picture: https://www.foresteuropemadrid2015.org/