Urgent Call for Global Cooperation to Achieve UN Forest Goals
Greater international co-operation is needed to achieve the UN’s global forest goals

Image: The Conversation
The Global Forest Goals Report 2026 highlights the urgent need for international cooperation to protect forests, crucial for climate stability and sustainable development. Despite some progress, significant challenges remain, including deforestation and poverty among forest-dependent communities. Only seven of 26 targets have been met, underscoring the need for collective action.
- 01Only seven out of 26 targets of the UN Strategic Plan for Forests have been broadly met, with two targets completely off track.
- 02Between 2015 and 2025, over 40 million hectares of forest were lost globally, including 16 million hectares of primary forests.
- 03Canada's Wildland Fire Prevention and Mitigation Strategy aims to enhance resilience against wildfires through partnerships with Indigenous Peoples.
- 04Development assistance for forest protection declined by 23% from 2024 to 2025, while harmful agricultural subsidies reached approximately $406 billion annually.
- 05The report emphasizes the need for innovative financing and stronger institutions to meet global forest goals.
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The Global Forest Goals Report 2026, presented at the United Nations Forum on Forests in New York, underscores the critical need for international cooperation to protect forests, which are vital for climate stability and sustainable development. The report reveals that only seven of the 26 targets of the UN Strategic Plan for Forests have been broadly achieved, with two targets—reversing deforestation and eradicating extreme poverty among forest-dependent communities—completely off track. From 2015 to 2025, the world lost over 40 million hectares of forest, an area larger than Germany, including significant losses of primary forests essential for biodiversity. Despite some progress in areas like protected zones and forest management, pressures from climate change and human activities continue to threaten forests globally. The report calls for enhanced political will and financial commitment to foster international cooperation, highlighting that effective tools and knowledge already exist to address these challenges. It stresses that forests are not only ecological assets but also crucial for rural development and poverty alleviation, supporting over a billion people worldwide.
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The decline of forests affects climate stability and livelihoods, particularly for communities dependent on forest resources.
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