7th Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe
and Extraordinary Ministerial Conference

FOREST EUROPE will hold two Ministerial-level meetings back-to-back in Madrid, Spain, in October 2015: the Seventh Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe, 20-21 October, and the Extraordinary Ministerial Conference, 21 October, that will receive the results of the work of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Legally Binding Agreement on Forests in Europe (INC-Forests).

The Seventh Ministerial Conference will hear reports on the state of Europe’s forests, national and pan-European implementation of FOREST EUROPE commitments, and a mid-term evaluation of efforts to achieve 2020 goals for European forests adopted at the Sixth Ministerial held in Oslo, Norway in 2011. The Ministerial is expected to consider and adopt decisions and resolutions on topics such as the social functions of forests, the role of forests in the transition to a green economy, forest protection and addressing global challenges to forests at the regional level.

The Extraordinary Ministerial will hear a report from INC-Forests about the results of its negotiations in 2012-2013 and consider what, if anything, to do next with the draft text of the legally binding agreement.