Environmental Governance & the Sector

Global and regional Policy Processes, Institutions, Developments & the role of the UNECE/FAO Timber Section

Franziska Hirsch UNECE/FAO Timber Section

Freiburg Student Tour „Environmental Governance“, 15 February 2010 Environmental Governance

Maria Ivanova and Jennifer Roy in „THE ARCHITECTURE OF GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE: PROS AND CONS OF MULTIPLICITY“

„In contrast to other global governance regimes such as health, trade and economic policy, the institutional architecture for the environment lacks clarity and coherence.“ ƒ No „leader organization“ to actively champion environmental issues ensuring their integration within economic and social policies ƒ International environmental responsibilities and activities spread across multiple organizations, including UNEP, numerous other UN agencies, WTO ƒ Independent secretariats and governing bodies of the numerous international environmental treaties

Freiburg Student Tour „Environmental Governance“, 15 February 2010 Forest Sector Governance

ƒ Is the same true for the governance of and forest-related matters?

ƒ Institutional coherence or fragmentation?

ƒ Up to you to judge!

Freiburg Student Tour „Environmental Governance“, 15 February 2010 Forest Sector Governance - Global

ƒ Rio 1992 World Summit on Sustainable Development - Outcome: • 27 principles of environment and development • Agenda 21 • United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) • United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity • United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

• Non-legally binding authoritative Statement of principles for a Global Consensus on the Management, Conservation and Sustainable Development of all Types of Forests

Freiburg Student Tour „Environmental Governance“, 15 February 2010 Rio Statement of principles for the Sustainable Management of Forests

ƒ Declaration of principles of future progress, as a result of efforts of the G-7 industrialized countries ƒ 13 principles: • Balancing forest conservation and exploitation • Right of states to develop forests to meet socio-economic needs • Promotion of technology transfer to developing countries to help manage forests sustainably • and forest development • „Internationally agreed methodologies and criteria“ on which guidelines for future forest monitoring may be based ƒ Commitment to keep „forest principles under assessment of their adequacy with regard to futher international cooperation on forest principles“

Freiburg Student Tour „Environmental Governance“, 15 February 2010 Rio Statement of principles for the Sustainable Management of Forests: A closer Look

ƒ No forest convention as advocated by Canada since 1990 ƒ Watered down? (NGO perspective) ƒ Less stringent than World Bank criteria already in place ƒ No international supervision of rainforests: India, China, Malaysia opposed to „internationalization“ of natural resources ƒ Fear of infringement of sovereign rights

Freiburg Student Tour „Environmental Governance“, 15 February 2010 Following Rio: Changing institutions

„ 1995-1997: Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF) ƒ 1997- 2000: Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF) Æ Result: > 270 proposals for action towards Sustainable

„ UN Forum on Forests (UNFF) founded in 2002: „Intergovernmental Policy Forum to promote the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests and strengthen long-term political commitment to this end“ Æ 15 years after Rio, April 2007, adopted by the General Assembly in 2008: Non-Legally Binding Instrument on All Types of Forests

Freiburg Student Tour „Environmental Governance“, 15 February 2010 Non-Legally Binding Instrument on All Types of Forests ƒ 4 global objectives on forests

Global objective 1: Reverse the loss of forest cover worldwide through sustainable forest management, including protection, restoration, and reforestation, and increase efforts to prevent forest degradation

Global objective 2: Enhance forest-based economic, social and environmental benefits, including by improving the livelihoods of forest-dependent people

Global objective 3: Increase significantly the area of protected forests worldwide and other areas of sustainably managed forests, as well as the proportion of forest products from sustainably managed forests

Global objective 4: Reverse the decline in official development assistance for sustainable forest management and mobilize significantly increased, new and additional financial resources from all sources for the implementation of sustainable forest management. ƒ National policies and measures ƒ International cooperation and means of implementation

Freiburg Student Tour „Environmental Governance“, 15 February 2010 The role of the UNECE/FAO Timber Section ƒ Contribution to regional implementation of NLBI: ƒ Stengthening cooperation and partnership at the regional and subregional level to promote SFM ƒ Develop and establish incentives ...for countries with economies in transition to reduce the loss of forests, to promote reforestation, afforestation and rehabilition of degraded forests, to implement SFM and increase the area of protected forests ƒ Take action to raise the priority of SFM in national development plans, including poverty-reduction strategies ƒ Strengthen capacity of countries to significantly increase the production of forest products from sustainably managed forests ƒ .....

Freiburg Student Tour „Environmental Governance“, 15 February 2010 At the Pan-European level

ƒ In 1990, foundation of Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe, now „ForestEurope“: “the pan-European policy process for the sustainable management of the continent’s forests“

ƒ Non-legally binding ƒ Ministerial Declarations, resolutions and commitments ƒ Liaison Unit with “moving” Secretariat, every 4 years

Freiburg Student Tour „Environmental Governance“, 15 February 2010 At the Pan-European level

ƒ 19 resolutions adopted at five Ministerial Conferences: ƒ Defining of criteria & indicators for SFM including Pan- European Operational Level Guidelines for Sustainable Forest Management, 1998, and improved Pan- European C&I for SFM, 2002 ƒ Addressing climate change, biological conservation ƒ 2007 Warsaw Ministerial Conference:

ƒ Forests, and Energy ƒ Forests and Water

Freiburg Student Tour „Environmental Governance“, 15 February 2010 At the Pan-European level: Institutions beyond policy making organs...

ƒ NGOs addressing forest-related matters - 2 accepted certification schemes with slightly different approaches: ƒ Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) Schemes, based on Pan-European Operational level guidelines ƒ Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) ƒ Many other ENGOs advocating forest-related issues: ƒ IUCN, WWF, Others...

ƒ Representative industry and owner groupings, e.g. Confederation of European Private Forest Owners, Confederation of European Paper Industries ƒ Businesses: traditional and new markets: wood energy, voluntary carbon markets

Freiburg Student Tour „Environmental Governance“, 15 February 2010 At the European level

ƒ 2006: EU Forest Action Plan - 4 objectives: ƒ Improving long-term competitiveness of the forest sector and enhance the sustainable use of forest products and services ƒ Improving and protecting the environment: biodiversity, , health, resilience for forest ecosystems ƒ Contributing to quality of life by preserving and improving the social and cultural dimensions of forests ƒ Improving coherence and cross-sectoral cooperation ƒ Responsibility spread across different EU Directorates General: ƒ Environment ƒ Transport and Energy ƒ Agriculture ƒ Industry ƒ EU Standing Forestry Committee

Freiburg Student Tour „Environmental Governance“, 15 February 2010 The role of the UNECE/FAO Timber Section

ƒ Contribute to shaping of commitments signed at the Ministerial Conferences: ƒ „Forests, wood and energy“: includes outcome of workshop on wood mobilization ƒ Implementation of approx. 2/3 of these commitments ƒ Close cooperation with Forest Europe, mostly same member States (46 Forest Europe vs. 56 UNECE)

ƒ Cooperation with the different EU Directorates General and member States ƒ Addressing issues of concern to MCPFE and EU member States: wood energy, development of national renewable energy action plans, climate change, ....

Freiburg Student Tour „Environmental Governance“, 15 February 2010 Present policy developments

ƒ Examination of possibility for a legally binding agreement on forests in Europe set up under Forest Europe ƒ Advocated by a number of countries e.g. Austria, Switzerland, Slovakia ƒ Possible advantages: Advocacy for the forest sector nationally and regionally, consolidation of forest sector commitments in one possible instrument (Convention?), enforcement of SFM ƒ Value-added beyond listing of existing forest-related commitments in other international and regional agreements such as CBD, UNFCCC, Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy (PEBLDS), others..?

Freiburg Student Tour „Environmental Governance“, 15 February 2010 ƒ Thank you for your attention!

ƒ Your comments, questions, thoughts?

ƒ „Coherence or fragmentation?“

Freiburg Student Tour „Environmental Governance“, 15 February 2010