Agreements to finance Forest Partnerships with countries rich in tropical forests to be preserved - Guyana, Mongolia, the Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Zambia - were signed on Tuesday 8 November by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, on behalf of the EU, with the presidents of each of these five countries in Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt) during the COP27 climate conference.
These partnerships, funded by the EU budget, are a contribution to the external dimension of the European Green Deal and build on the EU’s pledge made last year at COP26 in Glasgow to invest €1 billion in forests worldwide (Global Forest Finance Pledge) in order to, among other things, reverse the loss of biodiversity and preserve the capacity of forests to absorb carbon for the benefit of the climate.
The partnership agreements, tailored to each country, set the framework for cooperation based on the long-term commitments of the signatories, namely:
- ensuring sustainable forest management by improving forest governance and strengthening the business environment; - stimulate the forest bioeconomy to contribute to job creation and socio-economic development; - reduce deforestation and forest degradation; - seek ways to facilitate the production and trade of legal and sustainable forest products.
“Through these partnerships, we will support our partners in sustainably managing and preserving forests, one of the world's richest natural resource to combat climate change and conserve biodiversity as well as to promote sustainable development”, said Ms von der Leyen.
The EU has committed around 35% of its external action budget (under the NDICI Global Europe financial instrument) for the period 2021-2027 to climate targets and 7.5% to biodiversity conservation targets. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)