United Nations Forum On Forests Research Articles

EVALUATING THE AGENCY OF UNITED NATIONS FORUM ON FORESTS IN HALTING DEFORESTATION

The recent decrease in deforestation suggests a success in global effort of halting it, yet the question on in the agency of United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) remains. Do these changes occur due to UNFF’s facilitation? To examine this, this paper utilizes Principal-Agent theory proposed by Hawkins et al., (2006) to explore UNFF’s autonomy and discretion and its role in halting deforestation. It will first analyse the historical and relational foundation of UNFF as an international organization (IOs) and then define the meaning of ‘problem-solved’ in terms of forest issue. It will then evaluate policy instruments and powers that UNFF holds using Martha & Finnemore’s argument on the power of IOs. This paper argues that UNFF is serving as a forum for global forestry governance. It faces challenges due to differing national interests, limited discretion and significant role of NGOs in influencing discussions and advocating for sustainable forest management. Tensions persists between developed and developing nations in forestry issue, thus UNFF plays the role of collaboration and coordinating agents through Collaborative Partnership on Forest (CPF). It possesses limited role as arbitrating and enforcing agent due to Non-Legally Binding Instruments (NLBI) preferences of member states. However, UNFF possesses the power in terms of diffusing norms accepted by members, that halting deforestation is non-negotiable.

Evolution of the International Forest Regulation

In 2019, the World came face to face with the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the immediate global priority has become to tackle the global public health emergency, the long-term response must also address the underlying causes of such a pandemic. Degradation and loss of forests is one of such contributing factors disrupting nature’s balance and increasing the risk and exposure of people to zoonotic diseases. Worldwide deforestation and forest degradation are continuing at alarming rates. The underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation include the lack of good governance at both international and national levels, the undervaluation of forest products and ecosystem services and the inadequate crosssectoral policies (e.g. policies that encourage the conversion of forestland to other uses). In order to overcome these major obstacles in combating deforestation and forest degradation it is important to provide for forestrelated policy consistency and for effective policy coordination. Up until now, although in general the need for consistency and coordination has been recognized, the extent to which various environmental regimes interact concerning forest regulation and/or may be in conflict with one another remains underexploited. In order in a later step of the research to investigate the interactions and identify conflicts, gaps and synergies with regards to forest regulation, this current article sets the background and investigates the forest regulation under the international environmental law. The challenge for such investigation lies in the fragmentation of the international forest regulation: instead of a basis in a single convention or a protocol, provisions related to forests are scattered through the pieces of hard, soft and private international law. The objective of the current article is to grasp the overall scope of the international forestrelated instruments and their evolution under various environmental regimes. The main methodology employed throughout the research is desktop research and legal analysis. In a chronological order the article investigates the evolution of the international forest regulation and reveals its current highly fragmented state.Following the introduction is the essential scientific background for the purpose of the legal research: a brief explanation of what constitutes “forests”, an overview of forests resources worldwide and of the current alarming rates of forests decline. In the following, the article looks at the evolution of the topic of forests in the international agenda from their first appearance up until today. For the purpose of the research three developmental stages in the evolution of the forest regulation at the international level are distinguished: the Foundational Period (i.e. before 1990) — when the scientific consensus about global deforestation and forest degradation developed and transformed from a scientific into a policy issue; the Fragmentation Period (from 1990 until 2011) — when forests entered the UN environmental agenda and gained attention as a stand-alone topic and the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) was established; and the Pre-Constitutional Period (from 2011 — onwards) — when negotiations on the Legally Binding Agreement (LBA) on forests in Europe are taking place. Finally, the conclusions bring the findings of the article together and provide the ground for subsequent legal research.

A Global Institution on Animal Protection

This work addresses the need for a global public institution in favour of animals. In particular, it focuses on the design of a new international organization on animal protection by taking into consideration three models: the EU Platform on Animal Welfare, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF). Referring to these models, the mandate of the organization on animal protection is drafted, membership and participation criteria are considered, as well as its mechanisms of functioning. The collaboration with other international organizations is foreseen, and common fields of interest are identified. Particular attention is dedicated to the transition towards an economic and sustainability model that considers animals as sentient living beings with fundamental interests in the preservation of their life and dignity, rather than as exploitable resources. In order to address the current global challenges related to animal protection, and progress towards effective universal rights (not only for humans), the creation of a public international institution on animal protection is needed.

“We are just cheerleaders”: Youth's views on their participation in international forest-related decision-making fora

The failure of the multilateral processes to deliver comprehensive treaties has illuminated the importance of participatory and deliberative processes in global forest policy. There has been scholarly work on the role of different actors in global forest policy fora, including the roles of: environmental non-government organizations, private sector, public administrations, and scientific communities. However, literature search suggests studies on the participation of the youth groups are almost non-existent. Our research aimed to assess how youth delegates perceive their participation in the international forest-related conferences, and to identify areas that they think can improve their engagement in the international forest-related fora. We surveyed the youth participants of three international forest-related decision-making processes and fora: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), and Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Although they felt their participation was valued, a large majority of them suggested that the opportunities to express their opinions and ideas remain limited. More importantly, they were afraid that their views and ideas on how to deal with the current forest challenges were not taken into consideration. They further argued that the forest-related international conferences should provide more opportunities for youth to facilitate engagement with other groups, to share ideas, wisdom and solutions.

Negotiating the future under the shadow of the past: the eleventh session of the United Nations Forum on Forests and the 2015 renewal of the international arrangement on forests

SUMMARY Prior to the eleventh session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) in 2015 a series of interlinked initiatives took place intended to generate new options for strengthening the international arrangement on forests. The paper analyses these initiatives and identifies the main proposals to emerge from them. It is shown that almost all these proposals were lost or weakened during the negotiation process. One reason for this, it is argued, is the consensual decision making procedures of the UNFF whereby it takes all states to say yes, and only one to say no. This empowers veto states, namely powerful and intransigent states that wish to resist change in key areas. It is also argued that international forest negotiations do not start from a blank page, with ‘textual shadows’, namely precedents from inside and outside the UNFF, delimiting the possibilities available for delegates and, for some issues, leading to the perpetuation of the status quo. The result is that during the formal intergover...

Increasing representation of states by utilitarian as compared to environmental bureaucracies in international forest and forest–environmental policy negotiations

This article analyses the representation of selected countries (EU-27 and the five influential “forest states”) to international forest-related negotiations by national utilitarian vis-à-vis conservation-oriented ministerial bureaucracies. It is hypothesised that due to the bureaucracies' informal goal of gaining and maintaining responsibility over political issues, mainly ministries of agriculture including forestry and ministries of environment are competing for the task of representing states in international forest and forest–environmental negotiations. A survey design based on a semi-structured questionnaire was used to study the bureaucratic representation of the selected states to the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) and to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) negotiations between 2000 and 2011. The results show that in the processes under study the representation of states by utilitarian types of bureaucracies is rather increasing, while the role of conservationist bureaucracies is declining. Likewise, the roles of ministries of foreign affairs and economic affairs are declining, while hybrid organisations on agriculture/environment were observed being on a strong increase. Under CBD negotiations the vast majority of responding countries was represented by environmental bureaucracies, while agricultural ones played a marginal role. In contrast, under UNFF negotiations countries were represented by agricultural, economic and hybrid agricultural/environmental bureaucracies in approx. equal shares. Agricultural bureaucracies especially gained influence under UNFF negotiations during the study period. The article concludes on these trends also highlighting options for future research.

Future prospects for international forest law

SUMMARY This article analyses the development of international forest law in the period since the 1992 and assesses the prospects for its future success. At the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development it was assumed by some countries that creation of a global forest treaty would lead to sustainable forest management on a global scale. Opposition to the proposed treaty was, however, strong so instead, a non-binding forest instrument was agreed. Since 1992, a variety of laws, institutions, policies and programs have been created but none has significantly reduced deforestation. The creation of a global forest treaty remains on the agenda of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) and will be reconsidered in 2015. This paper considers the arguments for a global forest treaty, analyses the legal and practical difficulties which may emerge, and discusses four other paths forward within the international legal system. These include the addition of protocols to existing treaties, amendme...

The Customary Law Nature of Sustainable Forest Management States Practice in Central America and European Union

Sustainable forest management (SFM) has become one of major environmental debates for the international community. This is because of the multifunctional importance of forest resources for the entire planet, namely ecological, socio-economic, cultural and climatic balance. General awareness of the multifunctional importance of forests unfortunately coincides with the observed increase of threats to these ‘international public goods’. To tackle continuous deforestation and degradation, the international community through the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) and its predecessors has attempted to adopt an international legally-binding agreement on sustainable management based on the Forest Principles. The narrow success of such international negotiations led to explore another option to this issue through the review of some regional agreements based on the inductive approach. This method is used by International Court of Justice for seeking the customary international law through the States behaviours or conducts. The paper is focussed on two regional regimes on SFM: the Central America Regional Convention and the European Union Resolution related sustainable forests management. The examination of States practice shows that such regional instruments fulfil all the requirements for having the status of the emerging customary law at these regions.

Sustainable forest management practice in Central African States and customary law

Sustainable forest management (SFM) has become a major focus for the international community. This is because of the multifunctional importance of forest resources for the entire planet, namely ecological, socio-economic, cultural and climatic balance. General awareness of forest importance unfortunately coincides with the observed increase in threats, especially anthropogenic, to this world heritage. To tackle the continuing deforestation and degradation, the international community, through the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) and its predecessors, has attempted to adopt an international convention on SFM based on the 15 Rio Declaration principles. The limited success of international negotiations aimed at the adoption of such an instrument leads us to seek an alternative within international law theories, through analysis of the relationship between states practice in SFM and customary international law. To this end, this paper focuses on the practice of Central African States in sustainable forest management, especially statement of principles, sub-regional treaty and domestic legislation. The analysis shows that their practice fulfils all the requirements in order to be regarded as regional custom. Therefore, principles and state practices of SFM can thus be considered legally binding for this sub-region, despite some major implementation shortcomings.

Finding the Way Forward for the International Arrangement on Forests: UNFF‐5, ‐6 and ‐7

International forest policy negotiations have often been characterized by political entrenchment: as early as at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro there was a failure to develop a legally binding forest convention, and subsequent policy fora have often struggled to reach consensus. During its fifth annual session in 2005, the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) began to show signs of a process in deep trouble, failing to achieve agreement on even the most innocuous voluntary commitments. At its sixth session in 2006, the Forum was successful in that members were able to agree on four ‘global objectives on forests’ and initiated the negotiation of a non‐legally binding instrument. While this is a cause for optimism, it remains unclear whether the process is completely out of the woods yet or where it is likely to go from here. This article will identify the obstacles to consensus that the UNFF has encountered and discuss whether the most recent session has managed to surmount these. Finally, options to increase future political support and member accountability are presented, including increasing participation in national reporting and reinvigorating the Forum's programme of work.

Enhancing Access to Forestry Information in Africa to Ensure Sustainable Forest Management.

That access to and provision of high quality forest-related information is crucial to the sustainable management of the world's forest resources was by recognized by both the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) and the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), and seen as a priority for the implementation of Agenda 21 and the UNFF/IFF proposals for action. However, addressing this priority is a great challenge for developing countries, especially Africa, where significant investment in information and communication technologies (ICT) and information management strategies is urgently needed. This paper discusses one effort, Global Forest Information Service (GFIS), which is attempting to improve access to forestry information in Africa, and reviews the potential of using ICT to manage forestry information on the African continent. The impact of ICT in meeting the needs of researchers and other forest stakeholders, and on the quality of research in Africa, in particular, Ghana, is also discussed. Inadequacies and weaknesses in infrastructure, skills, linkages and finance are some of the challenges that need to be addressed in order to realize this potential. Achievements in creating partnerships on the African continent to improve skills and transfer knowledge about information management are also described.

Where is the United Nations Forum on Forests going?

SUMMARY Forest-related issues are addressed in several international agreements but the negotiation process that currently focuses solely on forests is the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF). Over the past 10–15 years, political opinions have diverged on whether there should be a binding convention on forests. This matter should inter alia have been decided at UNFF-5 in May 2005. No agreement was, however, reached and decisions about the future were postponed until UNFF-6 in 2006. This paper explores firstly the fact that there appears to be little consensus about why the international forest process is needed, and secondly, what is needed at the global political level and how these needs can be met. Seven options are discussed and the best possibility appears to be a combination of the already existing agreements and organizations. The paper also discusses what can be expected of UNFF-6.

Hostage to Norms: States, Institutions and Global Forest Politics

Global forest politics reveal surprising impacts of environmental norms on state behavior at the international level. Negotiations regarding deforestation have repeatedly failed to produce a policy agreement. Instead of abandoning the deadlocked talks, governments created the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), a hollow entity deliberately deprived of decision-making powers. Various theoretical perspectives fail to explain why states create blank international institutions without policy mandates. Several arguments are advanced here. First, a global norm of environmental multilateralism (NEM) helps explain the creation of the UNFF as well as universal state participation in it. Second, such “good” norms can have negative consequences in world politics. NEM prohibits states from disengaging from failed political initiatives, and fosters the creation of hollow institutions that nourish skepticism about the effectiveness of global governance. Finally, global forestry defies the widespread academic notion that norms, institutions and governance are coterminous. Sometimes states design “decoy” institutions whose function is to preempt governance.

Taking Stock of the International Arrangement on Forests

Abstract The nonlegally binding international arrangement on forests (IAF) was established by countries in 2000 to promote management, conservation, and sustainable development of all types of forests and to strengthen long-term political commitment to this end. In 2005, its convening body, the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), reviews the effectiveness of the IAF and deliberates on next steps. The review is likely to find that some of the most effective parts of the arrangement have occurred outside the negotiating chambers of the UNFF. Increasing the effectiveness and lasting impact of the arrangement requires that countries integrate forests into the broader international agenda for sustainable development, emphasize the contributions of forests to poverty alleviation and economic development, and, most importantly, translate policy into concrete actions.

Fourth session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF)

Fourth session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF)

Grounding international modes of governance into National Forest Programmes

In this article we outline three different modes of natural resource governance that can be traced in international policy making and planning over the last 40 years. We show that a shift from the hierarchical to the heterarchical mode of governance can be found in natural resource governance. Agenda 21 introduced new planning ideas to the international decision-making process, with all countries and levels of government asked to assume responsibility for natural resource policy. Deliberation and participation of major groups is now emphasised, and forests are viewed at the international level as an inter-state matter of a transboundary nature. The deliberations and outputs of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF), the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF) and the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) are an empirical validation of this. We further argue that different planning approaches were inspired by the hierarchical and heterarchical modes of governance. The Tropical Forestry Action Plan, aimed at reducing deforestation in tropical forest countries, was primarily a technocratic planning tool, implemented by external staff and focused mainly on the forestry sector. National Forest Programmes (NFP), on the contrary, are oriented at implementing international commitments to enhance sustainable forest management following deliberative and participatory approaches at the national level. NFPs can also be seen as a framework for national decision-making activities, hence this shift in the mode of governance is also reflected at the national level. We further outline what the international community expects NFPs to deliver, as referred to in the Proposals for Action issued by the IPF and IFF. Analysis indicates that those IPF/IFF Proposals for Action making reference to NFPs are in those categories calling for improved international co-operation and technology transfer, as well as the provision of financial assistance and the promotion of public participation. We propose a conceptual framework for assessing the implementation of the IPF/IFF Proposals for Action at the national level. This assessment can be used to identify and communicate relevant topics, priorities, implementation responsibilities and implementation gaps. It can also be used as an ex post-evaluation tool to analyse the implementation of international agreements.