UNEP : Forests in a Green Economy report

UNEP launched Forests in a Green Economy report on World Environment Day (5 June) in Nairobi

 

Report examines how investment in forests can boost employment, tackle climate change and reduce deforestation


Speakers: Tim Kasten, UNEP Division of Environmental Policy Implementation
Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson / Head of Media
Christian Lambrechts, UNEP Division of Early Warning and Assessment and Technical Advisor to the Mau Restoration Interim Coordinating Secretariat

Nowadays, over 1.6 billion people are dependent on forests for their livelihoods. Rich in biodiversity, forests are also essential in supplying water to nearly half of the world’s largest cities. Yet despite such vital services, the world is losing its forests at an alarming rate, with some 5.2 million hectares being cut down each year.  

UNEP’s Forests in a Green Economy report – launched on 5 June in Nairobi and New Delhi - detailed the economic, environmental, health and social benefits of investing in forests and how better management of the ‘lungs of the Earth’ can help achieve sustainability for communities across the world.    

The report is launched during this year’s World Environment Day celebrations, which are taking place under the theme ‘Forests: Nature at Your Service’. The UN has also declared 2011 as the International Year of Forests.

UNEP’s Green Economy Report – launched last February – identified forests as one of ten key sectors which, with sufficient investment and enabling policies, can help accelerate the transition to a low-carbon, resource-efficient green economy.  

This latest report examines in greater detail how public and private investments, transfers between developed and developing countries and other financial models can help realize the full contribution of forests to the global economy, poverty eradication, human health and the fight against climate change.