More than 1,000 policymakers, journalists, leaders and experts in forests and agriculture will gather in Poland in November on the sidelines of UN climate talks to participate in a new two-day event: The Global Landscapes Forum. Registration is now open for the event, which combines two smaller events — Agriculture and Rural Development Day and Forest Day — to provide the world’s largest platform for discussing the science and policy behind the world’s most pressing environmental and development challenges.
The first Global Landscapes Forum will take place 16-17 November 2013, alongside the 19th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties in Warsaw.
Negotiators at the upcoming Conference of Parties will be elaborating the grounds for a new binding climate deal to be agreed in 2015. This deal, to replace the Kyoto protocol in 2020, will for the first time cover developed as well as developing countries. The year 2015 is also critical for the global agenda as the UN Millennium Development Goals are set to expire, and a new framework will come into place. A UN High-level Panel has identified environmental sustainability as a priority in its first report to the Secretary General in May 2012, and an Open Working Group is in the process of elaborating Sustainable Development Goals.
In this context, the Global Landscapes Forum will provide a platform for negotiators, policy makers, development professionals and researchers to discuss an integrated approach to achieving development aspirations while protecting environmental goods and services, mitigating climate change and adapting to its effects.
By putting the four dimensions of Sustainable Investment; Policy and Governance; Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation; and Food Security and Nutrition on the agenda at the upcoming climate talks, the Forum will serve as the pre-eminent global hub for discussion and networking among stakeholders involved in development processes across the landscape. “We’re moving toward the planning and implementation of multiple objectives — governance, production systems, sustainable intensification — to see how these can work at different scales,” according to Peter Holmgren, Director General of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).
The Global Landscapes Forum is jointly coordinated by CIFOR and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) on behalf of 26 agriculture, rural development and forestry organizations. The event will set forth proposals to develop the potential of a landscape approach to inform future U.N. climate and development strategies.
The Polish Ministry of Environment has confirmed its role as host country partner, and the University of Warsaw is anticipated to support the Forum through providing the venue and participating actively throughout the two days.
Click here for more information on the Global Landscapes Forum.
Register here.
