Highlights and images for 4 December 2024

The afternoon plenary session on the third day of the 60th session of the International Tropical Timber Council (ITTC-60) focused on the growing web of cooperation and collaboration with other organizations, issues for consideration during the upcoming renegotiation of the International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA), and implementation of the International Tropical Timber Organization’s (ITTO) New Financing Architecture.

Most of the day was spent in parallel sessions of the Council’s Associated Committees, considering policy and reviewing existing and potential ITTO projects.

In her presentation to Council plenary, ITTO Executive Director Sheam Satkuru reviewed efforts to engage with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) on involvement in projects they fund and to capitalize on the ITTO’s recent accreditation with the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to become involved with climate-related projects receiving GCF funds. She also summarized ITTO efforts to operationalize memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with several organizations and funding agencies and to pursue new MOUs with others.

Japan discussed its efforts to acquire observer status for the ITTO in the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and asked other ITTO member countries to support its draft decision in the UNGA. New Zealand, Brazil, the Republic of Korea, Panama, and Costa Rica indicated their support for the initiative.

On renegotiation of the ITTA, a consultant suggested various options to pursue in the new agreement that Members may wish to discuss during ITTC-60, such as a new membership structure and concomitant changes in voting structure. Council members discussed what mandate they should provide to the Preparatory Working Group (PWG). After the Consumer and Producer caucuses deliberated briefly, plenary agreed that the evening’s session of the Chairperson’s Open-ended Drafting Group should begin drafting a PWG mandate.

Regarding the New Financing Architecture, the Executive Director reported on the results of the pilot phase for the programmatic approach, which has brought in USD 14.8 million in project funding since 2019. She noted that 31 projects and concept notes, totaling USD 13,691,353, are still awaiting financing, with 16 due to sunset in 2025. Satkuru asked the Council to decide whether to:

• move beyond the pilot phase and continue with the programmatic approach;
• maintain the regular project cycle (RPC) in parallel with the concept note approach, and if so, whether to keep the RPC at two cycles per year or to reduce it to one per year; and
• schedule another review of the programmatic approach.

The matter was referred to the Chairperson’s Open-ended Drafting Group.

During their sessions, the Committees reviewed completed projects, ongoing projects that are incurring implementation issues, and those awaiting financing.

The Committees also reviewed policy work. Among other things, the Committee on Reforestation and Forest Management (CRF) discussed follow-up on a prior mandate to revise the 1996 ITTO Guidelines on Fire Management in Tropical Forests. The ITTO Secretariat reported experts had suggested that, instead of revising the guidelines, ITTO should formulate a tool on fire management in tropical forest contexts. She indicated that work on the tool will be initiated during 2025.

In the joint session of the Committee on Economics, Statistics, and Markets and Committee on Forest Industry (CEM-CFI), delegates decided after some discussion to consolidate consideration of transparency, traceability, legality, and certification under two general policy work categories of legality and traceability frameworks.