Mexican President to Attend Forest Day

Published on 29 Nov 2010
Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who has transformed his country into a leading voice on climate change, will join more than 1,800 forestry experts, activists, policymakers, global leaders, and climate change negotiators at Forest Day 4 to discuss the urgency of ensuring the survival of the world's forests.

***FOREST DAY 4***
Sunday, 5 December 2010 – Cancún Center, Cancún, Mexico

 

For more information, contact:
Daniel Cooney at d.cooney@cgiar.org
Jeff Haskins at jhaskins@burnesscommunications.com

 

MEDIA ADVISORY
Nov. 29, 2010

Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who has transformed his country into a leading voice on climate change, will join more than 1,800 forestry experts, activists, policymakers, global leaders, and climate change negotiators at Forest Day 4 to discuss the urgency of ensuring the survival of the world’s forests. The meeting will take place on December 5 on the sidelines of UNFCCC COP-16 in Cancún, Mexico. More than 70 speakers are confirmed, including:

  • Lord Nicholas Stern, author of the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change
  • Chris Huhne, U.K. Energy and Climate Change Secretary
  • Dan Nepstad, Director at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute and leading voice on the Amazon
  • Tom Lovejoy, Chair of the Global Environment Facility Science Panel and renowned climate biologist
  • Mirna Cunningham, Chair of the Center for Autonomy and Development of Indigenous Peoples
  • Hans Brattskar, Director of the Norwegian Environment Ministry’s Climate and Forest International Initiative

In addition, more than 370 UNFCCC climate delegates have registered, along with 120 journalists. Participants will discuss the latest on the UNFCCC negotiations toward an agreement on REDD+, which could see billions of dollars mobilized to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by avoiding deforestation, as well as protecting and increasing the world’s forests.

Key topics to be explored include:

Mitigation & economic development: With most developing countries emitting about two-thirds of their greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and land-use change, how can they continue to develop while also meeting carbon reduction targets? What is the role of REDD+ and how should funds be distributed?

Illegal logging & corruption: With REDD+ offering an opportunity for unprecedented levels of performance-related financing to protect the world’s forests, what can be done to improve governance and crack down on graft?

Local communities and indigenous peoples’ rights: While experience has highlighted the importance of local communities’ and indigenous peoples’ involvement in sustainable forest management, what role should they play in REDD+ negotiations and implementation?

Monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV): If REDD+ is going to work, there has to be a robust, transparent and cost-efficient MRV system. What are the challenges to reaching agreement on how exactly this should be done at national and sub-national levels?

Forest Day 4 will serve as a bridge between the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity and the 2011 International Year of Forests.

Forest Day is convened by the Center for International Forestry Research on behalf of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests. This year’s event is hosted jointly with the Government of Mexico, through the National Forestry Commission.

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Even though public registration has now closed because of overwhelming demand, journalists can still register and learn more about the event at: www.forestday.org
Press briefings will be held throughout the day. Access to high-level speakers will be granted on a first-request basis. Contact Daniel Cooney at d.cooney@cgiar.org
All events will have simultaneous translation into Spanish.

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Forest Day is one of the world’s leading global platforms for anyone with an interest in forests and climate change to come together with others and exchange their views. Previous Forest Days focused on placing the role of forests in mitigating and adapting to climate change at the forefront of climate negotiations. The outcomes of previous Forest Day themes as well as a description of the CPF members are attached. The theme for Forest Day 4 is “Time to Act,” highlighting the urgency of ensuring the survival of the world’s forests, the biodiversity they embrace and the hundreds of millions of people who depend on them.
http://www.forestday.org

The Collaborative Partnership on Forests is a voluntary arrangement among 14 international organisations and secretariats with substantial programmes on forests (CIFOR, FAO, ITTO, IUFRO, CBD, GEF, UNCCD, UNFF, UNFCCC, UNDP, UNEP, ICRAF, WB and IUCN). The CPF’s mission is to promote the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forest and strengthen long-term political commitment to this end.
http://www.fao.org/forestry/cpf/44935/en/

CONAFOR (Comisión Nacional Forestal) is the National Forestry Commission of Mexico. It is a public agency whose objective is to develop, support and promote conservation and restoration in Mexico’s forests, as well as to participate in developing plans and programmes and enacting policies for sustainable forestry development.
http://www.conafor.gob.mx/

The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) advances human wellbeing, environmental conservation and equity by conducting research to inform policies and practices that affect forests in developing counties. CIFOR helps ensure that decision-making that affects forests is based on solid science and principles of good governance, and reflects the perspectives of developing countries and forest-dependent people. CIFOR is one of 15 centres within the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research.
www.cifor.org
www.ForestsClimateChange.org

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