Summary
On the fourth and final day of Las2017, delegates met in a morning session to conclude EFC matters. They addressed: FAO contributions to the global process; EFC contributions to FAO governance; and the frequency of EFC sessions. After considerable discussion, this last issue was deferred until the next session of the EFC.
Delegates elected Christine Farcy (Belgium) as the new EFC Chair and Kenan Kiliç (Turkey) as EFC Vice-Chair. They re-elected Rob Busink (Netherlands) and Liubov Poliakova (Ukraine) as Vice-Chairs.
Delegates went on to conclude joint COFFI/EFC matters, including: Forest Resources Assessment 2020 (FRA2020) – enhanced and streamlined international reporting; and a review of 2017 activities, with planned activities and publications for 2018.
In the afternoon, the joint session culminated with the adoption of the Warsaw Integrated Programme of Work 2018-2019, which provides the framework for cooperation between COFFI and EFC on forestry issues in four areas: data, monitoring, reporting and assessment; policy dialogue and advice; communication and outreach; and capacity building. It also contains terms of reference for the various subsidiary bodies, and refers to activities outlined in the Rovaniemi Action Plan for the Forest Sector in a Green Economy, which are to be carried out “subject to availability of financial and human resources.”
During the late-evening closing session, delegates adopted the Las2017 report, including the Warsaw Integrated Programme of Work and a Forest Products Market Statement 2016-2017, which summarizes market trends and developments in the UNECE region.
In their closing remarks, Andrey Vasilyev, UNECE, and Yuriko Shoji, FAO, commended participants for adopting the Warsaw Integrated Programme of Work, which they felt provided valuable guidance on the way forward.Andrzej Konieczny, Poland’s Deputy Minister of Environment, said this “important event” had set a good foundation for fruitful cooperation in the future. He underlined the importance of the 70 years of UNECE/FAO cooperation for Poland. He closed Las2017 at 9:45pm.
IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web coverage and a summary report from Las2017. The summary report is now availavle in HTML and PDF.
Photos by IISD/ENB+ | Sean Wu
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Morning Session
Peter Csóka, FAO
Matthias Schwörer, Germany
Ali Temerit, Turkey
A view of the dais during the morning session
Christoph Dürr, Switzerland
Tomas Krejzar, Czech Republic
Liubov Poliakova, Ukraine
Ivonne Higuero, UNECE
Rob Busink, the Netherlands
Ekrem Yazici, FAO
Christine Farcy, Belgium
Roman Michalak, UNECE/FAO, and Anssi Pekkarinen, FAO
Afternoon Session
EFC Chair Kenan Kiliç chatting with Rob Busink, the Netherlands before the afternoon session
Guy Robertson, US
Andrey Filipchuk, Russian Federation
Delegates listening through the interpretation headset
Boris Greguška, Slovakia
Gerben Janse, Sweden
A view of the dais during the afternoon session
Johannes Hangler, Austria
Catherine Rivoal, France
Armand Rudolf von Rohr, CEO,
RVR Service AG - Clean Forest Club, Switzerland
Jurant Dika, Macedonia
Delegates applaud the adoption of the Las2017 report.
Andrey Vasilyev, Deputy Executive Secretary of UNECE; Andrzej Konieczny, Deputy Minister of the Environment, Poland; and COFFI Chair Marta Gaworska, giving closing remarks
Around the Venue
LAS2017 volunteers
Polish delegation
IISD/ENB+ team (L-R): Nienke Beintema, Team Leader; Sean Wu, Digital Editor; Iliana Cardenes, Writer