Runa Ray’s Post

There is no contradiction between a competitive forest products sector and biodiversity conservation and restoration. This is why the Forest Solutions Group members are so actively promoting a #naturepositive agenda.

Our land.  Our future. 🌍 Land plays a key role in the climate system as a major carbon sink, as its surfaces, such as forests, regulate the planet's temperature and help to store carbon. In the last decade alone, land-based ecosystems have absorbed around 30% of carbon emissions from human activities. But our land is under increasing pressure from deforestation, urbanisation, industrial development, agricultural expansion and unsustainable farming practices that are undermining its ability to sustain food production, conserve freshwater and forest resources, and regulate climate and air quality.  A changing climate, in turn, is exacerbating land degradation through drought, desertification and other extreme weather events, which are increasing in frequency and intensity as the planet warms. 🌱 How can we make peace with the land? The good news is that there are ways to reverse land degradation! That’s why today’s World Environment Day focuses on land restoration, halting desertification and building drought resilience, as we do in our projects: One approach we are working with is restoration, which includes sustainable forestry, agroforestry, grazing management and assisted natural regeneration, as well as protecting areas important for biodiversity and the provision of natural resources such as water. The economic benefits of land restoration, including its impact on reducing emissions and preventing biodiversity loss, are significant. They are estimated to be as high as US$140 trillion per year - 50% more than global GDP in 2021. Sustainable land management practices can protect ecosystems and the communities that depend on them, as well as help regulate local climate patterns, improve water quality and protect biodiversity. Let's continue this work together! #GenerationRestoration #ForNature #WorldEnvironmentalDay #ClimateChange #LandDegradation #Sustainability #VolkswagenClimatePartner  UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre UNEP-WCMC United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI)

🦋🐒🌲 Happy International Day of #BiologicalDiversity! 💭Today, we reflect on the critical role of the forest sector in achieving the goal set by the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) to protect biodiversity by 2030. Forests are an essential #PartOfThePlan as they provide us with a wealth of services essential for our well-being, from clean air and water to flood protection and climate regulation. 🌏Managing forests sustainably is crucial for safeguarding biodiversity and is instrumental to ensuring the continued supply of resources and other benefits for climate and people. ◾ Forests are home to over 80% of the world's terrestrial biodiversity [Source: UN FAO]. ◾ An estimated 350 million people worldwide live in forests  and 1.6 billion depend on them for their livelihoods [Source: The World Bank] ◾ A 10% loss in forest biodiversity leads to a 3% loss in productivity [Source: Liang et al.] 🤝 FSG members have worked collectively to improve their practices and protect and restore forests. In 2023 FSG members reported their shared nature and biodiversity key performance indicators: ➡ 24% of land set aside primarily for nature conservation or restoration purposes, representing an area of 5 million hectares ➡ 271,000 hectares of land was dedicated to conservation and restoration beyond the boundaries of their own landholdings to promote impact at scale ➡ 50,000 smallholders were reached directly through programs designed to support the adoption of sustainable forestry practices or manufacturing, and/or building capacity to obtain and retain certification 🎯 We count on all companies across all sectors to help implement the GBF's goals. The forest sector has a key role to play in achieving these goals. We need to manage forests sustainably, ensuring the continued provision of vital ecological services while safeguarding the incredible biodiversity they harbor. 🌳 Members of @WBCSD’s Forest Solutions Group are committed to further protecting and enhancing biodiversity and ensuring the continued provision of products used on our daily lives, like timber and paper. ➡ You can learn more about FSG's Key Performance Indicators here: https://lnkd.in/eGj7u2hr. 🔍 This year, we are developing a forest and nature metrics tool that will support the sector in identifying the most relevant and practical metrics to measure and demonstrate the impacts from sustainable forest management. 🔦 Watch this space! Bernard de Galembert Edie Marriner Jessica Fonseca da Silva   #BiodiversityDay #forestsector #sustainableforestry #forestproducts

Prof. Dr. Atef Mohamed Kamel (Environmental & Sustainability Consultant) The Role of Sustainability and Nature to Our Future Nature is the foundation for all living organisms — and it’s essential for the survival of future generations. That’s why sustainability is a pressing challenge for today’s economic and environmental interests. Whether you live in an urban cityscape or a small farm, nature provides the food, shelter and air we need to survive. It’s also the driving force behind our weather and natural resources. But it’s quickly being negatively impacted by human activities, from deforestation to pollution, current practices are compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. That’s why when we discuss sustainability and nature, the ultimate goal is to provide for our future. Read on to learn more about how nature sustainability practices, such as sustainable forestry and agriculture, can help combat global warming and preserve our biodiverse ecosystems. What is the future of sustainability and nature? The earth is currently in a climate crisis. From carbon emissions to rising sea levels to extreme weather events (e.g., drought, flooding, hurricanes, etc.), nature is being threatened due to unsustainable human practices. The solution? Sustainable development to maintain current needs while still preserving nature and its resources for the future. This means learning more about green technology, renewable energy sources and practices that prioritize our forests, land and water. Although this may appear daunting, these changes don’t have to conflict with global economic interests. In fact, the focus on conservation doesn’t have to negatively impact land development. Achieving sustainability for future generations goes hand-in-hand with economic gain — and it will protect our natural ecosystems

Following on from part 1 one Monday for #nature related regulations, here’s part 2… #biodiversity #naturepositive #regulatoryreporting #regulation #sustainabilityreporting https://lnkd.in/eC7TsVBq

A quick look at some of the more prominent nature-related frameworks and regulations across nature… Part 2: #GRI 101 –   - Updated biodiversity framework to deliver more comprehensive value chain and operational monitoring and transparency - Increases the granularity of biodiversity loss monitoring, associated impacts and how these are managed - Improves location-specific impact reporting and corresponding societal impacts - Two years until formal adoption, so there is time to build your nature-based programme management (and get your ducks in a row) 🦓 Verdict – given the global familiarity of many corporates with GRI, this provides a useful standard from which to support the global agreement to halt and reverse biodiversity loss   Forest, Land and Agriculture (FLAG) –   - World’s first standard from Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi) in land-intensive sectors - Aims to improve consistency and transparency in the quantification and reporting of GHG emissions in-line with the Paris Agreement - Attempts to address carbon emissions or removals associated with forestry and paper products, food production and processing and tobacco under the GHG protocol - No deforestation commitment required by 31st Dec 2025 🌴 Verdict – As land demand grows and land use evolves, FLAG improves the capability of land sector participants to better adapt and mitigate to future nature-related impacts   Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) –   - Announced at COP15, but gaining market momentum as understanding grows around the importance of nature for the global economy - Provides a global turnkey environmental, societal and economic framework from goal-setting to reporting halt and reverse nature loss at national levels - Four high-level goals for 2050 including halting human-induced species extinction, sustainable use of biodiversity, equitable benefit sharing and an improvement in biodiversity finance - Twenty-three targets for 2030 including most prominently, 30 by 2030 – 30% conversation of land, sea and inland water, 30% restoration of degraded ecosystems and reductions in both invasive species and harmful subsidies 🦋 Verdict – a transformational blueprint to galvanize action and deliver positive results for biodiversity loss, the GBF provides a new cornerstone for nature-impacting business activities and can (and should) be used alongside other frameworks to educate and drive change. There are plenty more regulations globally, with many prominent and relevant to nature, particular sectors and regions, however this is just a highlight of a few key trending frameworks, demonstrating how pivotal nature is going to be for the future of global economies. #regulatoryreporting #regulation #esgreporting #corporatereporting #sustainability #sustainabilityreporting #nature #naturepositive

Enhancing Leadership Skills to Strengthen Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Resilience in ASEAN   🔔 The ASEAN Climate Leadership Programme (ACLP) is set to launch its third iteration in mid-2024, focusing on strengthening regional climate change policy and action. This initiative, a collaborative effort of ASEAN AgriTrade project and the ASEAN EU-German Climate Action Programme (CAP), is funded by the German Government (BMZ) and implemented by GIZ.   💼 ACLP III aims to empower leaders in the ASEAN region to address climate change challenges, with the core theme of "Promoting Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices to enhance Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) on the pathway towards net zero."   🙌 The preparation for ACLP III involved two virtual co-creation workshops on November 20, 2023, and January 15, 2024. Moreover, these sessions were also built upon insights from the ACLP Alumni Knowledge Sharing Workshop held on September 7, 2023, where former participants shared experiences and provided critical feedback.   🤝 Stakeholders from ASEAN Member States, development organizations, academia, and civil society organizations collaborated to identify target participants and their capacity needs. The focus is on climate-smart agriculture, gender in agriculture and forestry, climate change policy, and leadership skills.   📍For more updates on ACLP III and detailed information, visit https://lnkd.in/grYDuNmv.    Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

During these weeks one of the most prestigious scientific journals, Nature, is publishing editorials analyzing the progress and the defects to be corrected in order to meet the 2030 Agenda and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This week I share the editorial on the fifteenth SDG: Life on land. Here is a brief edited excerpt: SDG 15’s aims are “to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss”. However SDG 15 is also nowhere near on track. The greatest driver of this loss is conversion of land on an industrial scale for human use, especially by agribusiness and industry. Every year, human activities are costing the world around 100 million hectares of natural land — and about that much forest was lost between 2000 and 2020. Earth is at the start of a mass extinction event: estimates show that species are disappearing at 100–1,000 times the rate of naturally occurring extinctions. It will be the sixth such event in Earth’s 4.5-billion-year history. Unlike the previous five, this one has been precipitated by the actions of one species — humans. The economic costs of failing to account for the environment are high, and they are here now — but they are hidden from our daily lives and concerns. A systematic approach to addressing these trade-offs is not the only answer to achieving the SDGs, but it is necessary. Properly resourcing national statistical offices to coordinate environmental accounts is also essential. https://lnkd.in/eENwrahg #OnScienceAndSociety

FYI: For those of you who work on sustainability in small island developing states looking to publish your work. https://lnkd.in/eNjrcV8W Collection  Sustainable development of Small Island Developing States Submission status Open Submission deadline 26 March 2024 Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are a diverse group of developing countries recognized by the United Nations as being at the frontline of climate change. Due to their geographic location and concentration of population and human activities in the coastal zone, SIDS are highly exposed to natural disasters and sea level rise, which can have devastating socio-economic consequences. This vulnerability is exacerbated by small economies that rely almost exclusively on agriculture, fisheries and eco-tourism, sectors that are themselves highly dependent on the environmental conditions. Multidisciplinary solutions to promote resilience and capacity to predict and mitigate the consequences of natural disasters are therefore of utmost importance for these populations. This Collection invites original research supporting the sustainable development of SIDS, from agriculture and fisheries to biodiversity conservation, including digitalization of primary sectors and technological advances promoting growth and development of these states.

In 2023, TIR Europe undertook a strategic initiative to elevate the integration of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into our sustainability and impact reporting. These are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. TIR’s work directly aligns with the SDGs through landscape-level conservation to help conserve biodiversity and focus on climate change mitigation. Our approach to SDG tracking exemplifies our commitment to sustainability and responsible investment practices, positioning our firm as a leader in the timberland investment management industry. Find out more about our dedication to these sustainable development goals by reading TIR Europe's latest sustainability report. #sustainable ~#forestry #UNSDGs