Environmental issues and sustainable development

The challenges presented by a fragile and uneven global economic recovery continued to threaten progress towards sustainable development, Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, told the Commission on Sustainable Development today at the opening of the week-long Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting for the Commission’s nineteenth session.

As it concluded its ninth session this afternoon, the United Nations Forum on Forests strongly urged the international community to use the International Year of Forests, 2011, to raise awareness of the diverse benefits of woodlands to human life and to accelerate their sustainable management.

As part of the ninth session of the United Nations Forum on Forests, more than 30 ministerial-level participants today committed themselves to better highlighting the vital role of forests in addressing complex challenges of economic and social development — in particular at the highest levels of the global agenda.

Environmental experts and world leaders called today for the sustainable management of forests in the interest of human development as the United Nations Forum on Forests began its High-level Ministerial Segment by launching the International Year of Forests, 2011, which was followed by discussions on people-centred forestry and financing for forest communities.

Meeting in plenary this afternoon, the United Nations Forum on Forests again facilitated the “cross-fertilization” of information between its two working groups, and assessed their respective progress.

The International Year of Forests — a year-long celebration of the vital role that forests play in people’s lives — will be launched on 2 February, at a ceremony attended by world leaders, Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai and United Nations forest experts. Global observance of the Year comes amid growing recognition of the role that forests managed in a sustainable manner play in everything from mitigating climate change to providing wood, medicines and livelihoods for people around the world.

The Chairperson of the United Nations Forum on Forests introduced today the draft declaration expected from its upcoming ministerial segment and the draft omnibus resolution anticipated to form the main outcome of the current two-week session.

Midway through its two-week session, the United Nations Forum on Forests took stock this afternoon of the progress made by its two working groups, while considering plans for its work during the second week.

The loss and degradation of the world’s forests continued at a high rate owing to neglect of the social and cultural factors of forestry, Lambert Okrah, focal point for non-governmental organizations, said today as the United Nations Forum on Forests held the multi-stakeholder dialogue segment of its ninth session.

The ninth session of the United Nations Forum on Forests continued today with resounding calls for the empowerment of local communities — including indigenous and other vulnerable groups — to participate in forest governance.