The United Nations Forum on Forests concluded its twenty-first session today, adopting its omnibus resolution emphasizing the urgent need to accelerate implementation of the United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests and its six Global Forest Goals by 2030.
The Forum is the main United Nations platform for countries to work together on forest-related issues. As a functional commission of the Economic and Social Council with universal membership, it meets annually, alternating between policy and technical sessions, with the aim of building long-term political commitment to forests worldwide.
By the resolution, the Forum encouraged the strengthening of technical and technological cooperation in the sustainable forest management and promotion of the forest bioeconomy. It supported operational initiatives to combat forest fires, notably through the Global Fire Management Hub, and invited Member States to contribute to the Tropical Forest Forever Facility.
“Despite geopolitical tensions, economic and environmental crises and financial constraints, Member States have reaffirmed their commitment to forest multilateralism”, said Juliette Biao, Director of the Forum on Forests secretariat. Forests are essential in the fight against climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation and poverty.
Underscoring the importance of collective responsibility, she called on Member States to turn their political commitments into measurable results on the ground, and to dedicate adequate, predictable financial resources that enable the Forum and its secretariat to effectively fulfil their mandate.
Currently available only in English, the omnibus resolution — which will be submitted to ECOSOC for adoption — will be published under the reference E/CN.18/2026/L.1.
To Reopen Negotiations or Not: Delegates Counter European Union Proposals
Prior to adoption, the European Union’s representative, speaking in its capacity as observer, requested the deletion of the term “policies” in paragraph 12, arguing that it did not correspond to usually agreed upon wording. In paragraph 13, he proposed adding an explicit reference to “sustainably managed forests”, while removing the English term “farming” in favour of language focused on community and family-based forest management.
Concerning the means of implementation, he suggested replacing the expression “at all levels” in paragraph 16 with “from all sources”, wording that, according to the European Union, had already been widely discussed during negotiations.
Calling for flexibility to preserve the balance of the text, Brazil’s representative nevertheless opposed reopening negotiations, arguing that the European Union’s proposals could have been made during informal consultations.
The Russian Federation’s delegate echoed this view, describing the text as “balanced” and expressing a desire “not to reopen the debate”. Mexico’s representative also praised the balanced nature of the text, particularly regarding cooperation and financing. He said the resolution provides a solid foundation, a point supported by Iran’s representative. South Africa’s delegate, meanwhile, supported the text, while describing it as “not entirely satisfactory”. Haiti, for its part, gave its “full support” to the text, its delegate said.
The United Kingdom’s representative expressed concern over the Forum’s excessive reliance on voluntary contributions to finance essential activities, including staffing, which creates significant risks for the effectiveness and sustainability of the Forum’s work. On that point, China’s representative raised the possibility of strengthening the Forum’s capacities within the framework of the UN80 Initiative.
Argentina’s delegate, in turn, requested that anti-deforestation measures comply with the rules of the World Trade Organization. Multilateral forest processes must respect national priorities, he stressed. Brazil’s delegate added that technology transfers should take place according to terms set by the countries most in need of them.
Australia, Ukraine Contest Russian Federation’s Entry into Forum Bureau
After adopting the report of its twenty-first session (E/CN.18/2026/L.4), the Forum approved its provisional agenda and elected its bureau for its twenty-second session, which will take place from 24 to 28 May 2027 at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Ankhbayar Nyamdorj (Mongolia) was elected as President. Miriam Aba Arhin (Ghana), Maria Sokolenko (Russian Federation), Emanuel Montenegro Batista Lins (Brazil) and Harald Aalde (Norway) were elected as Vice-Presidents.
The representatives of Australia and Ukraine, however, dissociated from the election of the Russian Federation, citing the country’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since the start of the war in February 2022, nearly 1 million hectares of forests have been destroyed by the Russian Federation in temporarily occupied regions, according to Ukraine’s delegate.
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* The 2nd-5th Meetings were not covered.
