On Monday, the Third Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Legally Binding Agreement (LBA) on Forests in Europe (INC-Forests3) opened with a welcoming address by Ismail Üzmez, Deputy Director-General for Forestry, Turkey, who stressed the priority of forestry and sustainable forest management (SFM) for Turkey, as well as Turkey’s hope that the negotiations will result in a LBA that will be agreed, accepted and enforced by all European countries and a guiding and exemplary work for world forestry.

INC-Forests3 approved the provisional agenda and proposed organization of work. Throughout the day, delegates continued the second reading of the draft LBA’s general provisions, addressing, inter alia: national forest programmes; stakeholder participation; strengthening and enhancing international cooperation; monitoring; reporting; indicators; the capacity of forests to contribute to global carbon cycles; forest fragmentation; biodiversity; trade; illegal harvesting; sustainable consumption and production; and the contribution of forests to sustainable development.

An open-ended informal contact group met during the evening to address trade, national forest programmes, reporting and monitoring.

At 7:00 PM, INC-Forests3 participants attended a reception hosted by Turkey’s Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs.

Full web coverage available here: 28 January

On Tuesday, the Third Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Legally Binding Agreement (LBA) on Forests in Europe (INC-Forests3) heard a report from the contact group on proposed compromise texts on national forest programmes, monitoring and reporting, which the full INC integrated into the draft negotiating text.

A video conference was held with two of the independent consultants who were asked by the Chair to prepare an analysis of the options for bringing the LBA under the UN umbrella. The consultants outlined their findings and answered questions from delegates. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) discussed the financial, procedural and practical implications of various options for hosting the agreement under the UN umbrella. These organizations and the European Forest Institute (EFI) outlined how they might serve as the agreement secretariat. Germany reiterated its offer to host the LBA secretariat.

In the afternoon plenary, the four proposed texts on compliance were reviewed briefly, and delegates agreed to discuss this in detail during a working group session on Wednesday. The plenary also discussed provisions regarding the conference of parties (COP), secretariat and final clauses.

A contact group met in the evening to discuss proposals regarding biodiversity, protective functions in forest management, and ecosystem services.

Full web coverage available here: 29 January

On Wednesday, the Third Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Legally Binding Agreement (LBA) on Forests in Europe (INC-Forests3) heard a report on the results of the Expert Meeting on Terms and Definitions, a country-led initiative held in Madrid in November 2012. Delegates agreed to use the outcome of the workshop as a basis for negotiations, together with the existing definitions in the draft text, and revisited the definitions paragraph-by-paragraph in plenary.

Plenary then heard a report from a contact group dealing with provisions on maintenance, conservation and appropriate enhancement of biological diversity in forest ecosystems and protective functions in forest management. The INC accepted amendments on: increasing forest biodiversity at all levels through effective and efficient integration in sustainable forest management (SFM); water and soil protection contributing to prevention of natural hazards; and supporting forest functions by identifying and compiling relevant information for awareness raising, decision making and strengthening sectoral cooperation.

In the afternoon, two working groups met in parallel. Working Group 1, co-chaired by Katerina Ventrubova (Czech Republic) and Piotr Paschalis-Jakubowicz (Poland), posed questions to the European Forest Institute (EFI), UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) about practical implications of hosting or co-hosting the LBA secretariat, as well as the implications of Germany's offer to host the secretariat in Bonn. A few delegations expressed their preference for a LBA under the UN umbrella. The four organizations were asked to provide rough estimates of the costs of them hosting and providing secretariat services for the LBA.

Working Group 2, co-chaired by Ingwald Gschwandtl (Austria) and Tamer Otrakçier (Turkey), focused on the four text proposals regarding compliance. Ukraine withdrew its proposal, allowing Working Group 2 to negotiate based on a merged proposal containing elements from the Russian Federation, Norway and the EU.

After the two working groups reported back to plenary, an informal contact group was tasked to meet in the evening to continue work on compliance.

Full web coverage available here: 30 January

On Thursday, the Third Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Legally Binding Agreement (LBA) on Forests in Europe (INC-Forests3) opened with a report by Facilitator Ingwald Gschwandtl (Austria) on the results of the contact group on compliance, reading proposals that delegates addressed one-by-one. The EU, supported by Switzerland, proposed two additional paragraphs on a review mechanism for implementation reports. The contact group's proposed section on compliance remains in brackets side-by-side with the EU proposal for a compliance section.

INC-Forests3 began the third reading of the draft negotiating text, agreeing ad referendum on a number of paragraphs during the afternoon plenary in the chapters on objectives and principles, and portions of the chapter on general provisions.

The plenary held a preliminary discussion of the roadmap for the negotiation process, with Poland confirming its invitation to host INC-Forests4 from 10-14 June 2013 in Warsaw, and the Russian Federation offering to hold an intersessional meeting from 3-5 April in St. Petersburg. The EU requested that each of the four organizations considered to serve as the LBA secretariat — the European Forest Institute (EFI), UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) — submit detailed information during the intersessional period on projected costs and services if they are selected.

In the evening, an informal group met to consider possible editorial changes in the draft negotiating text, bringing it in line with the legal language required of conventions.

Full web coverage available here: 31 January

On Friday, the Third Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Legally Binding Agreement (LBA) on Forests in Europe (INC-Forests3) opened in morning plenary with a report from an informal group, facilitated by Switzerland, which developed a proposal for editorial changes and reformatting the LBA into convention style. INC-Forests3 then returned to a paragraph-by-paragraph third reading of the general provisions section, agreeing ad referendum on several paragraphs.

Afterward, INC-Forests3 discussed the roadmap for the negotiating process, agreeing that they would suspend INC3 and resume it in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, from 3-5 April 2013. They also agreed to: launch a formal legal working group at St. Petersburg that will address the final clauses section of the LBA apart from the compliance section; and mandate the Bureau, assisted by the INC Secretariat, to draft the LBA annexes to be considered at the St. Petersburg meeting.

The INC Secretariat reported on the state of the trust fund for the INC-Forests process, at which time the EU announced that it would make a €50,000 contribution.

In the final hours of the afternoon, delegates undertook the third reading of the preamble, and Switzerland introduced its proposals, based on the work of the informal group, for reformatting the LBA.

INC-Forests3 adjourned at 6:30 pm.

The IISD-RS summary of INC-Forests3 will be available at this site on Monday, 4 February 2013.

Full web coverage available here: 01 February