PROGRESS ON THE NEW YORK DECLARATION ON FORESTS Balancing forests and development Addressing infrastructure and extractive industries, promoting sustainable livelihoods Goals 3 & 4 Progress Report November 2020 forestdeclaration.org PROGRESS ON THE NEW YORK DECLARATION ON FORESTS 2 PROGRESS ON THE NEW YORK DECLARATION ON FORESTS PROGRESS ON THE NEW YORK DECLARATION ON FORESTS Balancing forests and development Addressing infrastructure and extractive industries, promoting sustainable livelihoods Goals 3 & 4 Progress Report November 2020 forestdeclaration.org 3 PROGRESS ON THE NEW YORK DECLARATION ON FORESTS This report belongs to the public domain. Users are welcome to download, save, or distribute this report electronically or in any other format. A digital copy of this report, along with progress assessments on all goals of the New York Declaration on Forests, are available at forestdeclaration.org. Please use the following citation: NYDF Assessment Partners. (2020). Balancing forests and development: Addressing infrastructure and extractive industries, promoting sustainable livelihoods. Climate Focus (coordinator and editor). Accessible at www.forestdeclaration.org. 4 PROGRESS ON THE NEW YORK DECLARATION ON FORESTS Contents Acknowledgments 6 Executive Summary 7 CHAPTER 1. Introduction 13 CHAPTER 2. The forest impacts of infrastructure, extractive industries, and basic-needs activities 16 CHAPTER 3. Assessing progress toward Goals 3 and 4 25 CHAPTER 4. Progress by governments 35 CHAPTER 5. Progress by companies 48 CHAPTER 6. Grassroots movements 60 CHAPTER 7. Progress by financial institutions and international donors 68 CHAPTER 8. Barriers to progress 76 CHAPTER 9. Conclusion 90 Abbreviations 93 Glossary 94 Endnotes 96 5 PROGRESS ON THE NEW YORK DECLARATION ON FORESTS Acknowledgments Lead authors: About the NYDF Progress Assessment: Franziska Haupt, Erin D. Matson, This report was researched and authored Anthony Bebbington, by the New York Declaration on Forests Denise Humphreys Bebbington Assessment Partners and coordinated by Climate Focus. It is a collaborative effort Contributing authors: that relies on the contributions of countless Mulumba Agaba, Karl Arpon, Haseeb Bakhtary, individuals and organizations. Andrea Cabrera Roa, Rodrigo Cassola, Nicholas Cuba, Pilar Delpino Marimon, The NYDF Assessment Partners include: Wendy Francesconi, Isabel Garcia Drigo, CDP, Center for International Forestry Research Jodie Hartill, David M. Landholm, (CIFOR), Chatham House, Clean Cooking Alliance, Sanggeet M. Manirajah, Louise Nakagawa, Climate Focus, Conservation International (CI), Daniela Ribeiro, Laura Sauls Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Fauna & Flora International, Forest Foundation We are also grateful to the numerous other Philippines, Forest Trends, Global Canopy, individuals and organizations who provided their Institute for Global Environmental Strategies time and expertise, in many different ways, to the (IGES), Instituto de Manejo e Certificação Florestal development and improvement of this work: e Agrícola (Imaflora), The Alliance of Biodiversity Arild Angelsen, Anna Bebbington, Helen Bellfield, International and the International Center for Siân Bradley, Felipe Bravo, David Burns, Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), International Union Stasiek C. Cabezas, Sophie Capshaw-Mack, for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Madeline Craig, Kevin Currey, Paula Diaz, Levin Sources, National Wildlife Federation (NWF), Stephen Donofrio, Akiva Fishman, Alain Frechette, Overseas Development Institute (ODI), Rainforest Taiji Fujisaki, Michael F. Garbo, Anne Gardner, Alliance, Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), David L. A. Gaveau, David Gibbs, Chloe Ginsburg, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), The Nature Morgan Gillespy, Peter Graham, Simon Hall, Conservancy (TNC), The Sustainability Consortium Simon Henry, Barbara Hermann, Swati Hingorani, (TSC), Woodwell Climate Research Center, Alison Hoare, Pippa Howard, Imogen Jacques, World Resources Institute (WRI), World Wildlife Martin Jaramillo, Idsert Jelsma, Juan Carlos Jintiach, Fund (WWF-US), Yiaku Laikipiak Trust, and the Andrea Johnson, Kiunga Kareko, Kiryssa Kasprzyk, Zoological Society of London’s (ZSL) Sustainability Kendie Kenmoe, Fritz Kleinschroth, Simon Koenig, Policy Transparency Toolkit (SPOTT) initiative. Jennifer Koinante, Kai Kresek, Elmedina Krilasevic, We would also like to thank the Burness team Naomi Lanoi Leleto, Robinson López Descanse, for their support with media relations. Breanna Lujan, Cecilia Lutrell, Thomas Maddox, Christy Melhart-Slay, Szymon Mikolajczyk, Design and figures: Imaginary Office Patrick Meyfroidt, Leah Mesnildrey, Copy editor: Emily Steadman Bryson Ogden, Clea Paz, Marina Piatto, Date of publication: November 2020 Andika Putraditama, Shyla Raghav, Niall Robb, CDP served as a Data Partner Blanca Racionero Gómez, Sarah Rogerson, for this report. Philip Rothrock, Claire Salisbury, Leah Samberg, Hiromitsu Samejima, Fabian Schmidt-Pramov, Ingrid Schulte, Yanhua Shi, Simon Siantidis, Jimena Solano, Adrienne Stork, Charlotte Streck, Viera Ukropcova, Charlene Watson, Makino Yamanoshita This project is supported by the Climate and Land Use Alliance (CLUA), the Good Energies Foundation, and the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag via the NYDF Global Platform. 6 PROGRESS ON THE NEW YORK DECLARATION ON FORESTS Executive Summary Over 200 governments, multinational companies, groups representing Indigenous communities, and non-governmental organizations have endorsed the New York Declaration on Forests (NYDF) since 2014, committing to doing their part to achieve its ambitious targets to end natural forest loss and to restore forests. Each year, the NYDF Progress Assessment—conducted by an independent civil society network of research organizations and think tanks called the NYDF Assessment Partners—monitors collective progress towards the NYDF goals. 2020 is a crucial year for review of and reflection on forest goals for the NYDF and the global community. Rather than halving since 2014—a 2020 target in NYDF Goal 1—the rate of natural forest loss has increased. Ending natural forest loss by 2030 will require a rapid paradigm shift by the global community towards valuing forests for their essential benefits and prioritizing their protection. The 2020 NYDF Progress Assessment focuses on two complementary, crucial goals for achieving sustainable development: • Goal 3. Significantly reduce deforestation derived from other economic sectors by 2020 • Goal 4. Support alternatives to deforestation driven by basic needs (such as subsistence farming and reliance on woodfuel for energy) in ways that alleviate poverty and promote sustainable and equitable development 7 PROGRESS ON THE NEW YORK DECLARATION ON FORESTS Key findings Rising risks to forests The pace of large-scale infrastructure development and natural resource extraction is increasing across many tropical forest regions, posing a rising threat to intact forest landscapes. Demand for mined metals and minerals and fossil fuels is still growing, putting increased pressure on highly biodiverse forests that play host to significant levels of deposits of these valuable commodities. The largely top-down development plans driving this growth in infrastructure and extractive industries often fail to provide commensurate investments in sustainable local economies. The overall area of shifting agriculture is decreasing, while the area of intensive agricultural production is increasing, a trend likely to lead to increased deforestation. Meanwhile, the number of artisanal and small-scale miners has tripled in the last two decades. Demand for other forest resources like fuelwood, charcoal, and non-timber forest products also shows little sign of slowing. In order to assess progress toward mitigating these rising risks for forests, this report outlines four strategies (Figure 2 of the report) that would, if pursued, contribute to the achievement of Goals 3 and 4. These strategies serve as indicators for assessing the actions of governments, companies, grassroots movements, and the financial sector and international donors. Figure 2. Strategies for progress in achieving NYDF Goals 3 and 4 Strategy 1 Embrace alternative development pathways that reduce over-exploitation, inefficient production, and excessive Strategy 2 Align macro-economic and strategic planning with forest goals Strategy 3 Strategy 4 Apply the Apply the ‘mitigation PRIME framework hierarchy’ deforestation N T at educ or ac r rastructur xtractiv dustr omot sustainable alternative livelihoods address different scales of thought, planning, and intervention. Strategies 3 and 4 apply to projects and interventions on the ground, which are nested within the high-level planning addressed by Strategy 2. In turn, the macroeconomic and strategic planning of Strategy 2 will be bounded by the conceptions of development that Strategy 1 seeks to expand. Adopting Strategy 1, by embracing alternative development pathways, will have cascading positive effects that will make Strategies 2, 3, and 4 easier to follow. 8 PROGRESS ON THE NEW YORK DECLARATION ON FORESTS Progress by governments Forest country governments have taken steps to align macroeconomic planning processes and national policies with forest goals. Almost 18 percent of global forests are designated as protected areas. Dozens of