Bjørg Sandkjær (DESA) and Juliette Biao (UNFF) on the launch of the Global Forest Goals Report 2026 - Press Conference

Great.
We're very pleased to have with us today two colleagues from the Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
In the center is Borg Sander, Deas Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Interagency Affairs.
And next to her is Juliette Bao, Director of the UN Forum on Force Secretariat.
They're here to brief you on the launch of the Global Force Goals Report for 2026, and I believe there will also be a PowerPoint presentation on the screen behind them.
But we will start first with miss Sankir.
Thank you.
Wonderful.
Thank you and good afternoon, everybody.
It's great to be here on the first day of this year's UN forum on forests after this morning's launch of the Global Forest Goals Report 2026, which comes at a decisive moment for sustainable development.
As I think we are all painfully aware, we have less than five years until the SDG deadline of 2013.
And the international community is working to accelerate progress, not only towards the SDGs, where we are lagging behind, but also towards the United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests and the global Forest goals.
The timelines are aligned as are their ambitions.
Because forests are central to this effort.
Forests sustain livelihoods, support food security, regulate the climate, and safeguard biodiversity.
In many respects, forests sit at the intersection of the SDGs, from poverty eradication and economic growth to climate action and ecosystem protection.
The report, and I'll just show you Thanks, Juliet, for bringing a copy.
The report, as you can see here is also available online, shows that countries are taking meaningful action.
We see strengthened governance, expanded restoration efforts, and growing engagement across sectors.
But at the same time, as this report shows, building on reports from a number of member states, progress remains uneven.
Because global forest loss has not been reversed, extreme poverty among forest dependent people persists and the findings of the report remind us that forests are not just an environmental priority, they are a development imperative.
The United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests provides a shared framework for action through 2013.
Delivering on it will require stronger political commitment, increased investment, and more effective coordination across sectors, including the agricultural, energy, and infrastructure sectors.
As we move forward, forests need to remain at the center of sustainable development strategies.
Investing in forests is investing in climate stability and resilient economies, and the well being of present and future generations.
Okay.
So with that, thank you, and I think I hand back to the moderator.
All right.
And now I turn the floor over to Juliette Pau, the director of the UN Form 14 Secretariat.
Thank you very much and good afternoon everyone.
Thank you, ASG for highlighting the most important issues of the finding.
But I would like to also say again that this report is drawn from 48 voluntary National report and I want to insist on the voluntary nature.
Imagine what could have been the number if it were not voluntary.
But nevertheless, these reports have been supplemented with the latest the most comprehensive data from the FU Global Forest Resourcesessment, and it was done in a timely manner.
The findings are clear.
Across the target, two off track including reversing loss and eradicating extreme poverty among forest dependent people.
17 are partially achieved, and seven are broadly met.
These tell us that while progress is made, it is not yet at the scale or speed required.
Since 2015, the world has lost more than 4 million hecta of forests.
At the same time, financing for sustainable forest management remained far below what is needed to meet global goals.
These two trends continued forests and insufficient investment at the heart of the challenge we face.
Despite those challenges, countries are taking action.
We are seeing large scale restoration initiatives, expansion of protective forest area, improved wildfire prevention and response, investment in forest based value chains, innovation in forest finance, stronger forest monitoring and data systems, better coordination across sectors, and growing international cooperation.
These efforts show that progress is possible and with greater investment and stronger policy coherence, countries can secure climate, biodiversity, and development gains.
This is not only about forests, it is about the broader global challenges we face, climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation, food security and resilience, water security, livelihoods, and sustainable value chain.
Forests are part of the solution.
Forests provide nature based solutions that support both people and planet.
We have three priority actions.
First, turn commitment to implementation, move from pledges to measurable results on the ground.
Second, scale up finance for sustainable forest management, and third, tackle the drivers of deforestation across sectors, including agriculture and infrastructure.
With less than five years remaining, the focus will be on accelerating action.
The decision we take now will determine whether we achieve the global forest goals and the contribution to the sustainable development.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
I'll now turn the floor over for questions.
I.
Thank you very much on behalf of the United Nations Correspondents Association for doing this briefing.
My name is Edith Luder from the Associated Press.
I You've both stressed that one of the aims of the whole Global Forest initiative is to safeguard biodiversity.
Yet today, indigenous groups from all over Latin America wrote a letter to every member of the United Nations plus UN officials warning that organized crime is undermining your efforts and threatening The governance of indigenous areas, as well as their guardianship of indigenous areas and biodiversity.
I wonder what your reaction is to that letter.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for this question.
First of all, I would like to start by saying that indigenous people are represented in the forum through the major group.
We have major group composed of representation of women, indigenous group, private sector.
In this group, they always really report to the forum.
During the session, especially this policy session about the contribution to the achievement of the global forest goal and the implementation of the UN strategic plan for forests.
Whatever they have at the domestic level and the thing that it cannot be really solved at the domestic level, they bring it to the forum where all countries can share their views and that's lead to the adoption of a resolution.
I think this problem of indigenous people is not only with the case you heard, but at the forum, we are doing everything for the voice of indigenous people to be heard.
This is something that cannot be solved overnight, but I can assure you that the major group are really taking care of this and they are making the voice of the indigenous group heard.
This problem also has been brought, but at the domestic level, some action have to be taken first.
Let me ask this in a different way.
How threatening is organized crime to the safety and the security of the globe's forests.
Very often, the organized crime happened in the forest.
They organized crime, very often.
It's threatened the forest in a way that it has to do with illegal logging, illegal wildlife exploitation, and that's really threatened the forest threatened the biodiversity.
So it's not really something to encourage anyway.
Nu.
Thank you very much.
This is Nam Abdullah Rd Media Network.
I have two questions.
Earlier in April last month, University of Maryland GLAD lab published a report saying that tropical deforestation fell by 36%.
I just want to know from your perspective whether this is a turning point or just a one year anomaly, what needs to happen for that to become durable progress.
Secondly, on the I think you said 48 countries, only 48 countries submitted their voluntary national reports.
Does that mean half of the world's forests is not covered by the report? Can you name those countries that didn't submit their data? What does that silence say about this? Thank you.
Your first question if I may ask you to repeat it again.
Sorry about that.
The first question.
The tropical deforestation dropped by 36% according to the University of Maryland tracking data of forests around the world.
That seemed to me like progress.
Why didn't you mention that? Is this just a one year anomaly? It is not only one year is really a cumulative progress that's led to what the Maryland University really highlighted.
So it's still going on.
We're still seeing this progress, especially now that, you know, Congo is also coming with the adopted UN General Assembly resolution on deforestation and reforestation.
Brazil also after the COP, many initiatives are being taken, including the presidency the COP 30 presidency on the road map on halting deforestation and reversing reversing forest loss.
It's still going on, but it's a trend.
I wouldn't say it's only one year.
One year program.
It's a cumulative progress.
I 48 reports represent 51% of the global forest area.
It's really representative, but it could have been more.
But let's say that this is really the first time we are using the online format reporting at the request of the member state really to make easier or use a friendly the reporting and reduce also the reporting burden.
So it has been really challenging to some countries really to do that.
But next year in the next cycle, I'm sure that those who have really submitted their report or those who are not submitted will be able because we are also providing a capacity building support to member states.
But the reason for me is that this is the first time and this is the first time also we are engaging directly with the countries.
It's not easy.
Just a follow up.
What are those major forest nations that have not submitted their national reports? Is this really sufficient with less than five years left for the UN strategic plan? National reporting, voluntary national reporting, shouldn't we have a better way of reporting? Is there have you thought of, let's say, indigenous peoples reporting, for example? First of all, at the UN Forum on forests, the only way to report on the global forest goal is what we are currently doing.
But other forest related processes or what they call it, agencies are also reporting and we are working together, let's say on the biodiversity Secretariat also, we're working jointly on those reports to make sure that we have synergy.
On your question about countries who have not submitted, I would like to say first that these 48 reports are really representative of different ecosystems.
But we have our technical person here in the room.
If you like, he can name those countries, Thomas, with your permission.
So, please.
Okay.
Thank you.
Yes, Yvonne.
Yeah, it's really following up.
My name is Yvonne Murray from RTE Ireland's national broadcaster.
It's really following up on that question.
Are you detecting this year some reluctance to engage given the change in the political atmosphere globally where climate related issues are less popular, let's say, than they were a couple of years ago.
Thanks.
No.
No reluctance as far as we know.
What we know is first, there is no enough capacity in some countries.
There are less resources in terms of human and financial resources.
But reluctance to submit reports, no.
But again, I will repeat that it's a voluntary national report because the forum itself is not legally binding here.
I suspect that if it were a legally binding platform, we could have heard more.
But the fact that is the first time they are using also this online format, I think that we should give them time till the next cycle is not easy even the online platform.
Moving to digital transformation is not easy to anyone.
Are there any further questions from anyone in the crowd? If not, I'd like once more to thank our guests, Boric Sankir, the Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Interagency Affairs at Esa, and Juliete Bao, Director of the UN Forum on For Secretariat.
Thanks very much for your briefing.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Have a good afternoon, everyone.
Thank you.