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Forests Policy & Practice
Resumed Third Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Legally Binding Agreement on Forests in Europe (INC-Forests3)

3-5 April 2013 | Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation
Highlights for Wednesday, 3 April 2013
Daily web coverage (click on the following links to see our daily web pages)
 

On Wednesday, 3 April, the Resumed Third Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Legally Binding Agreement (LBA) on Forests in Europe (INC-Forests3) opened in Saint Petersburg, the Russian Federation, with welcome statements by Alexander Panfilov, Head of Delegation, Russian Federation, and Viktor Lozhechko, Chairman of the Committee on Ecology and Natural Resources Management of the Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg.

The INC adopted its agenda and organization of work, agreeing to create a legal expert group, facilitated by Stephen Lowe, UK, which would meet in parallel with plenary to begin examining the LBA's final clauses and an annex on arbitration drafted by the INC-Forests secretariat.

Morning plenary began with partial agreements on text in the Objective and Principles sections. Discussions in the General Provisions section focused on trying to remove brackets in paragraphs on, inter alia: reporting; enhancing the capacity of forests and forest products to act as carbon sinks and reservoirs, substitution of non-renewable materials and energy, and contribute to a low carbon emission economy; forest fragmentation; cooperating to prevent and combat forest pests, diseases and fires; and measures to strengthen the role of forests in combating desertification.

In the afternoon, the INC agreed ad referendum on General Provision paragraphs on forest biodiversity and on facilitating communication between policy makers and all stakeholders. Some progress was made on clearing brackets and cleaning text in a General Provision paragraph on forest ecosystem services, while substantial differences remain on paragraphs on protected areas and on protection of groundwater and surface water.

The afternoon plenary also held an initial exchange of views on financial resources for LBA-related activities, discussed in detail the mechanics of bringing the LBA under the UN umbrella, and heard an EU proposal on reformatting the LBA text.

In the evening, the Russian Federal Forestry Agency hosted a reception for delegates and a contact group on compliance met, facilitated by Ingwald Gschwandtl, Austria, and Otrakçier Tamer, Turkey.

The Resumed Third Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Legally-Binding Agreement on Forests in Europe)
St. Peter and Paul's Cathedral across the street from the venue
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From L-R: Natalia Orlova, Deputy Chair of the Committee on Natural Resources of the Leningrad Region; Sergey Lyahovenko, Committee on Landscape Management, Saint Petersburg City Administration; Viktor Lozhechko, Chairman of the Committee on Ecology and Natural Resources Management of the Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg; INC-Forests Chair Jan Heino, Finland; Alexander Panfilov, Deputy Head of the Federal Forestry Agency, Russian Federation; and Malgorzata Buszko-Briggs, INC-Forests Secretary
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Jan Heino, INC-Forests Chair, Finland
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Manuela Cuvi, INC-Forests Secretariat
Viktor Lozhechko, Chairman of the Committee on Ecology and Natural Resources Management of the Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg
Alexander Panfilov, Deputy Head of the Federal Forestry Agency, Russian Federation
Mevlut Düzgün, Council of European Foresters (CEF)
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Paola Deda, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
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Noel Holleran, Ireland, speaking for the EU
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Knut Øistad, Norway
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Kenan Kiliç, Turkey
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Andrei Bui, Belarus
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Christoph Dürr, Switzerland
Merab Matchavariani, Georgia
Ivonne Higuero, UNEP
Sibylle Vermont, Switzerland
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Matthias Schwoerer, Germany
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Peter Csóka, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
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Room view during the plenary
Participants Networking
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Reception
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Related Links
Meeting resources

*Meeting website and documents

*Annotated provisional agenda

*Draft negotiating text for a legally binding agreement on forests in Europe as of the end of INC3 Plenary session on the afternoon of 1 February 2013

*Draft Annex on arbitration and other annexes to the draft negotiating text

*Updated Roadmap for the negotiation process

*Oslo Mandate

*INC-Forests1 website

*INC-Forests2 website

*INC-Forests3 website


Other relevant resources

*FOREST EUROPE

*UN Forum on Forests (UNFF)

*UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Forestry Department


IISD RS resources

*IISD RS coverage of INC-Forests3, 28 January - 1 February 2013, Antalya, Turkey

*IISD RS coverage of the Twelfth Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) Dialogue on Forests, Governance and Climate Change, 5 November 2012, Washington, DC, United States of America

*IISD RS summary report of INC-Forests2, 3-7 September 2012, Bonn, Germany (HTML - PDF)

*IISD RS coverage of the FOREST EUROPE Ministerial Conference Oslo 2011, 29 14-16 June 2011, Oslo, Norway

*IISD RS coverage of the Ninth Session of the UNFF (UNFF9), 24 January - 4 February 2011, UN Headquarters, New York, United States of America

*Forests-L - A news and announcement list on forest policy issues

*Forests Policy & Practice - A Knowledgebase of International Activities Adressing Forests Policy

*Linkages Update - Bi-weekly international environment and sustainable development news
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