The UEF Vice-President Ilpo Puputti participated at COFO26

Friday, October 14 , 2022 387

The UEF Vice-president Ilpo Puputty participated at the twenty-sixth Session of the Committee on Forestry (COFO26). The forum was held at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy from 3-7 October, 2022, in a hybrid format.

The participants in the forum focused on the contributions of forests to the Sustainable Development Goals

COFO26 provided a platform for exchange and dialogue among participants and gave strategic direction for the future work of FAO in forestry.

Committee discussed the implications and follow-up of the findings of FAO’s publication, The State of the World’s Forests 2022: Forest pathways for green recovery and building inclusive resilient and sustainable economies, and the XV World Forestry Congress held in May 2022 in Seoul, Republic of Korea. COFO also considered and the FAO’s Strategic Framework 2022-2031.

Ongoing work by the Forestry Division on forest solutions for combating climate change, resilient and sustainable economies, and the linkages between agriculture and forestry was on the agenda. It examined preparations for the 2025 edition of the Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA), the role of remote sensing in the Assessment, and how to define “forest degradation” for the purposes of the FRA. Delegates discussed sustainable production of wood and non-wood forest products and their value chains, and the role of such products in combating climate change, including the draft action plan for implementing FAO’s newest Strategy on Climate Change.