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11th Session of the UN Forum on Forests

4-15 May 2015 | UN Headquarters, New York

Summary of Highlights

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Reports:
Curtain Raiser
4 May
5 May
6 May
7 May
8 May
11 May
12 May
13 May
14 May
Summary

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	Daily ENB Coverage — About \| 4 May \| 5 May \| 6 May \| 7 May \| 8 May \| 11 May \| 12 May \| 13 May \| 14 May \| 15 May \| Summary

A view of the room from the dais, during the High-Level Dialogue


	The 11th session of the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF11) was held at UN headquarters in New York from 4 to 15 May 2015, with the High-Level Segment taking place from 13-14 May 2015. Delegates convened to discuss, inter alia, progress, challenges and the way forward for the international arrangement on forests, including reviewing the effectiveness of the international arrangement on forests (IAF), the progress towards the achievement of the global objectives on forests and the contribution of forests and the IAF to the internationally agreed development goals. Delegates also addressed: means of implementation for sustainable forest management and forest law enforcement and governance at all levels; enhanced cooperation and policy and programme coordination; and regional and subregional inputs.
	IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB), provided daily web coverage, daily reports, and a summary and analysis from the 11th Session of the UN Forum on Forests, in HTML and HTML.


	Friday, 15 May 2015 On Friday, 15 May, UNFF11 convened for its final day of negotiations. After convening in a brief morning plenary session, delegates then resumed their discussions in Working Group 2. The working group discussions continued throughout the day. Closing plenary resumed at 6:50 pm, where the draft resolution text was circulated to delegations for their consideration. The draft resolution was adopted at 7:23 pm, with the draft report being adopted shortly thereafter. Following closing statements, UNFF11 Chair Noël Messone closed the meeting at 7:47 pm. View more photos for Friday, 15 May 2015


	Manoel Sobral Filho, UNFF Director


	Moncef Khane, UNFF11 Secretary


	Heikki Granholm, UNFF11 Rapporteur


	UNFF11 Chair Noël Messone gaveled the meeting to a close at 7:47 pm.


	Thursday, 14 May 2015 UNFF11 reconvened for its penultimate day of negotiations on Thursday, 14 May. The High-Level Segment met for its final day of discussions. In the morning, two roundtables - "Integration of Forests in the Post-2015 Development Agenda" and "Renewed Commitments to the IAF beyond 2015" - were held. In the afternoon, a High-Level Dialogue was convened with the heads and senior representatives of regional and CPF member organizations and Major Groups. The Ministerial Declaration, “The forests we want: beyond 2015,” was also adopted. Working Group 2 resumed its discussions on the draft resolution in parallel to the High-Level Segment. Several delegates expressed frustration at a perceived lack of reflection in the proposed text of progress made in the contact group. As of midnight, delegates were discussing the best way forward. View more photos or read the daily bulletin for Thursday, 14 May 2015 in English (HTML/PDF) or French (HTML/PDF)


	Milena Sosa Schmidt, CITES


	Knut Øistad, Norway


	Hans Friederich, International Network for Bamboo and Rattan


	Thomas Gass, Assistant Secretary-General, UN-DESA


	Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary, CBD


	Emmanuel Ze Meka, Executive Director, ITTO


	Wednesday, 13 May 2015 Delegates reconvened on Wednesday, 13 May, for the start of the High-Level Segment and the continuation of discussions in Working Group 2. Working Group 1 had completed its work late the previous evening, agreeing on the draft ministerial declaration. Throughout the day, the High-Level Segment heard general statements from Member States. Working Group 2 resumed in parallel to consider the Co-Chair’s proposed text. They also convened in smaller contact groups to discuss text on means of implementation. Discussions continued into the night. View more photos or read the daily bulletin for Wednesday, 13 May 2015 in English (HTML/PDF) or French (HTML/PDF)


	A view of the dais during the High-Level Segment


	Martin Sajdik, ECOSOC President


	Hanne Maren Blåfjelldal, Norway


	Christabel Ngimbu, Zambia


	Elisabeth Backteman, Sweden


	Emilio Mugo, Kenya


	Abdullah Abu Shaweesh, State of Palestine


	Ibrahim Çiftçi, Turkey


	Tuesday, 12 May 2015 UNFF11 participants reconvened on Tuesday, 12 May, to continue discussions on the draft ministerial declaration and resolution. Working Group 1’s contact group resumed in the morning to undertake a second reading of the draft ministerial declaration. In the afternoon, the Working Group 1 Co-Chairs presented and distributed a "Co-Chairs’ proposal," containing compromises on the text, for further consideration by the Working Group. Working Group 2 established a contact group to discuss the potential establishment of a subsidiary body of UNFF, its functions and modalities, and means of implementation. In the afternoon, the Working Group 2 Co-Chairs introduced their compromise proposal for the draft resolution. Both working groups continued their discussions into the night. View more photos or read the daily bulletin for Tuesday, 12 May 2015 in English (HTML/PDF) or French (HTML/PDF)


	Oppon Sasu, Ghana


	Jarad Momeni, Iran


	Peter Besseau, Canada



	The Queens skyline from UN Headquarters


	Monday, 11 May 2015 UNFF11 delegates reconvened on Monday, 11 May, to start their second week of deliberations. Delegates convened in working groups to begin the second readings of the draft ministerial declaration and draft resolution. In Working Group 1, delegates broke into a contact group during the mid-morning to, among other things, list overlapping issues with Working Group 2 for the Working Group 1 co-chairs' consideration. Working Group 2 spent the morning and afternoon discussing the draft resolution, with the Secretariat encouraging those present to engage in bilateral discussions to try and reach agreement on bracketed text. A contact group was convened over lunch to try and reach consensus on language for referencing the yet-to-be-adopted post-2015 development agenda and Sustainable Development Goals. View more photos or read the daily bulletin for Monday, 11 May 2015 in English (HTML/PDF) or French (HTML/PDF)



	A view of the dais during Working Group 1


	Lyubov Polyakova, Ukraine


	Christoph Duerr, Switzerland


	Rowena Watson, United States



	A view of the dais during Working Group 2



	Small trees on Belmont Island behind the UN hold nests of many Double-Crested Cormorants, like this one taking off from the East River.


	Friday, 8 May 2015 UNFF11 met Friday, 8 May, to continue its deliberations in two working groups. Both Working Group 1, on the draft ministerial declaration “Future international arrangement on forests we want,” and Working Group 2, on the draft resolution “International arrangement on forests beyond 2015,” met throughout the day. Due to insufficient progress made in working group discussions, the stocktaking plenary was cancelled to allow these discussions more time. Working Group 2 discussions continued into the night. View more photos or read the daily bulletin for Friday, 8 May 2015 in English (HTML/PDF) or French (HTML/PDF)


	Afsa Kemitale-Rothschild, UNFF Secretariat


	Erdoğan Şirin, Turkey


	Luca Perez, European Union


	Marte Sendstad, Norway


	Ichiro Nagame, Japan


	Steven Cox, New Zealand


	Thursday, 7 May 2015 Delegates reconvened on Thursday, 7 May, to continue deliberations in Working Groups. Working Group 1 addressed the draft ministerial declaration “Future international arrangement on forests we want.” It met in the morning before adjourning for regional groups to engage in further consultations. Working Group 2, discussing the draft resolution “International arrangement on forests beyond 2015,” met throughout the day. View more photos or read the daily bulletin for Thursday, 7 May 2015 in English (HTML/PDF) or French (HTML/PDF)



	The dais during Working Group 1


	Damiana Mann, Paraguay


	Peter Csoka, FAO


	Arvids Ozols, European Union



	The dais during Working Group 2


	Wednesday, 6 May 2015 UNFF11 convened Wednesday, 6 May, for its third day of deliberations. Morning plenary convened to introduce the zero drafts of the ministerial declaration and the resolution on the IAF beyond 2015. Plenary was then adjourned until Thursday, 7 May, to allow delegations time for consultations. View more photos or read the daily bulletin for Wednesday, 6 May 2015 in English (HTML/PDF) or French (HTML/PDF)



	L-R: Hossein Moeini-Meybodi, UNFF Secretariat, UNFF Director Manoel Sobral Filho, UNFF11 Chair Noël Messone, and UNFF11 Secretary Moncef Khane.



	A view of the room during plenary



	UN-DESA held a press conference to launch the publication Forests, Trees and Landscapes for Food Security and Nutrition. L-R: Manoel Sobral Filho, UNFF Director; Bhaskar Vira, Chair, Expert Panel on Forests and Food Security; and Alexander Buck, Executive Director, IUFRO


	Tuesday, 5 May 2015 Delegates to UNFF11 convened for their second day of deliberations on Tuesday, 5 May. During the morning, working groups met for initial considerations on the draft Ministerial Declaration and the draft resolution on the IAF beyond 2015, which are to be introduced in plenary on Wednesday, 6 May. In the afternoon, delegates attended the multi-stakeholder dialogue, where Major Groups discussed with Member States, inter alia, how to improve the effectiveness of Major Groups’ engagement with, and contribution to, the UNFF. View more photos or read the daily bulletin for Tuesday, 5 May 2015 in English (HTML/PDF) or French (HTML/PDF)


	A view of the room during Working Group 1


	A view of the room during Working Group 2


	Peter deMarsh, Farmers and Small Forest Landowners


	Olivia Sanchez Badini, Children and Youth


	Eduardo Rojas-Briales, FAO


	Se Kyung Chong, Republic of Korea


	Reima Sutinen, Finland


	Aysha Ghadiali, United States


	Cécile Ndjebet, Women


	Monday, 4 May 2015 The eleventh session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF11) opened Monday at UN Headquarters in New York. The meeting convened in plenary throughout the day. In the morning, delegates addressed organizational matters, reviewing the effectiveness of the International Arrangement on Forests (IAF) and consideration of future options and reviewing the contribution of forests and the IAF to the internationally agreed development goals. Reports on the second meeting of the open-ended intergovernmental ad hoc expert group on the IAF (AHEG2), the IAF independent assessment and the CLIs held during the intersessional period were also heard. In the afternoon, delegates heard statements from groups and Member States. View more photos or read the daily bulletin for Monday, 4 May 2015 in English (HTML/PDF) or French (HTML/PDF)



	L-R: Jan Eliasson, UN Deputy Secretary-General; Srećko Juričić, UNFF11 Bureau; and UNFF11 Secretary Moncef Khane


	Manoel Sobral Filho, UNFF Director


	UNFF11 Chair Noël Messone, Gabon


	Jorge Illueca, Panama


	Jürgen Blaser, Switzerland


	Roman Michalak, UNECE


	Anna Stemberger, Children and Youth major group


	Shatrudhwan Pokharel, Nepal


	Your IISD-RS Earth Negotiations Bulletin team, L-R: Cleo Verkuijl, Netherlands, Writer; Dan Birchall, Digital Editor, US; Kate Louw, Team Leader, South Africa; Lynn Finnegan, Writer, Northern Ireland; Dorothy Nyingi, Writer, Kenya.


	Daily ENB Coverage — About \| 4 May \| 5 May \| 6 May \| 7 May \| 8 May \| 11 May \| 12 May \| 13 May \| 14 May \| 15 May \| Summary