International commitments to the promotion
of sustainable forest management
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| International commitments govern Finland’s forest policy and forestry in many ways. Negotiations and meetings sometimes also include excursions to the forests. |
Over the past 30 years, rapid internationalisation, the crucial
importance of forests for the livelihood of people living in rural
areas and for global environmental processes, and concern over the disappearance of tropical forests have led to international
negotiations and treaties on the environment and forests. These
international commitments govern Finland’s forest policy and
forestry in important ways.
The Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Convention
on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Convention
to Combat Desertification were concluded in 1992 at the
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
(UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, which also adopted principles
for the management, use and sustainable development
of forests, known as the ‘Forest Principles’.
Global discussion on forests has since then continued under the
aegis of the Inter governmental Panel on Forests (IPF) and
the Inter governmental Forum on Forests (IFF), and from
2001 at the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF). One
of the aims of the talks has been to establish a binding worldwide
forest convention. Agreement was reached at a meeting
of the Forum on Forests in 2007 on a legally non-binding
document applying to all the forests of the world. This document
specifies four Global Objectives: reverse the loss of forest
cover worldwide through sustainable forest management, and
increase efforts to prevent forest degradation; enhance forestbased
economic, social and environmental benefits; increase
significantly the area of protected forests worldwide and other
areas of sustainably managed forests, as well as the proportion
of forest products from sustainably managed forests; and reverse
the decline in official development assistance for sustainable
forest management. The intention is that these Objectives
should be achieved by 2015.
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) includes forest objectives
in its ‘programme of work on forest biological diversity’,
for instance regarding conservation, sustainable use, biodiversity
indicators and ecosystem services of forests. At the latest
Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological
Diversity in Nagoya, Japan in 2010, a consensus was reached
on shared goals for halting the depletion of the biological diversity
of the natural environment by 2020. The genetic resources
protocol (ABS) is intended to ensure availability of the world’s
genetic resources, specifying principles under which genetic material
(genes and DNA) from plants, animals and microbes may
be used in the process, pharmaceutical or cosmetics industries
in such a way that the benefits are equitably distributed.
The international climate policy goal is to curb global warming
so that the mean temperature may not rise by more than
+2 °C from 20th-century levels. Global conferences on climate
change have sought to establish a treaty binding upon all
governments to reduce emissions, but so far no consensus has
been established. At the latest conference in Cancún, Mexico,29
in 2010, agreement was reached on a climate fund and on the
necessity to limit global warming to two degrees, but no decisions
were taken on concrete emission reductions or on post-
Kyoto measures.
The Kyoto Protocol (1997), which builds upon the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), commits industrial
economies and economies in transition to reduce their collective
emissions in 2008–2012 to 1990 levels. Individual states
may implement emission reductions through their own actions,
through cooperation with other governments, or through arrangements
specifically designed for limiting emissions in industrialised
countries.
The Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in
Europe (FOREST EUROPE) plays an important role in international cooperation
on forests in Europe. At the initiative of France and Finland,
the first conference was organised in Strasbourg in 1990.
Since then there have been four conferences: in Helsinki (1993),
Lisbon (1998), Vienna (2003) and Warsaw (2007). The sixth conference
was held in Oslo in 2011 and the seventh conference will be held in Madrid in 2015 or 2016.
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| Discussions on climate change and bioenergy dominate present international and national forest policy discussions. The overwintering of
trees may be influenced due to the changing climate in the boreal zone. A boreal forest in Autumn. |
Resolutions adopted by the Ministerial Conferences have been
used to call attention to important and topical issues in forest
policy. Their main achievements have been to establish a consensus
on the sustainable management and use of forests, to
acknowledge the importance of national forest programmes to
forest policy, and to develop indicators for monitoring the sustainability
of forestry.
The Ministerial Conference in Oslo in 2011 decided
to launch negotiations for a binding forest agreement for the purpose
of ensuring sustainability in forestry in European countries.
The accession of Finland to the European Union in 1995 also
entailed the incorporation of forest related regulations of the
EU into national legislation. Although the EU does not have a
similar uniform policy for forests as it has for agriculture, forest-
related issues are incorporated in the functions of the various
sectors of the EU, such as agriculture, rural development,
the environment, trade, internal market, research, industry and
energy, and development cooperation. In agricultural and environmental
policy in particular, there are several regulations and
directives which also have a direct or indirect effect on forestry
and the forest industry.
An example of this is the Directive on Renewable Energy Sources
(the RES Directive), whose requirement of using 20% renewable
energy sources means a considerable increase in the use of forest
bioenergy (heating, electricity and biofuels) for Finland. The
Directive also contains several goals concerning sustainably produced
forest biomass and the construction sector. The aim is to
save energy and reduce emissions in materials production.
Forest matters are coordinated and organised through the EU
Forestry Strategy. The Forest Strategy was adopted in 1998.
On the basis of the Forest Strategy, a Forest Action Plan was
prepared for forests in the EU. The Action Plan was adopted in
2006. Updating of the Forest Strategy started in 2011. At
the same time, there will be discussion at the EU level concerning
the setting up of a uniform forest data gathering system to
support the processing of forest issues.
The EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2020 also includes aims
concerning forests, such as the development of indicators to
support the monitoring of forest biodiversity. Forest protection
and biological diversity issues are also addressed by the Natura
2000 directives. The FLEGT Action Plan (2003) and the Illegal
Timber Regulation (2010) are EU efforts to prevent illegal
harvesting of timber in the EU and the importing of illegally
harvested timber. Implementation of the Regulation will require
amendments to the national legislation of EU Member States.
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