EDD15 - Nature-based solutions for climate change mitigation: from deforestation to forest restoration

IUCN, UNESCO and Fairventures are delighted to welcome you to the European Development Days 2015, and especially to our session on Nature-based solutions for climate change mitigation from deforestation to forest restoration.

Deforestation and forest degradation account for nearly 20% of GHG emissions. The main drivers for this development include agro-industrial plantations, conversion to pastureland, infrastructure development, fires, fuelwood collection, industrial logging and mining. In 2009, our planet’s forests absorbed an amount of CO2e equal to about half of the fossil fuel emissions that year. Sustainable and integrative land use approaches such as forest and landscape restoration efforts (FLR) can provide a wide range of benefits, including climate change mitigation and adaptation, income generation, enhanced biodiversity and improved rural livelihoods, thus reconciling ecological, social and economic demands.

This session will welcome experts from science, the conservation world, the EU, and the wood industry to discuss how nature-based solutions can help balance conflicting land use interests in forest areas to achieve these co-benefits in the light of development, environmental, and sustainability concerns.

Speakers:

Cristiana Pasca-Palmer, Head of Unit, Climate Change, Environment, Natural Resources, DG International Cooperation and Development, European Commission
Representative of IUCN (tbd)
Wolfgang Baum, Program Manager 1mTrees, Fairventures
Representative of the wood industry (tbd)
Edmond Moukala, Chief of Africa Unit at the World Heritage Centre, UNESCO
Doug Boucher, Tropical Forests & Climate Initiative, Union of Concerned Scientists

Registration at the European Development Days is free of charge. To register, please follow the instructions here. Please note that registration is open untill 18 May 2015!