Forest for Climate, Communities and Conservation
You are warmly invited to Forests for Climate, Communities and Conservation— an afternoon during London Climate Action Week. Bringing together faith leaders, Indigenous Peoples, scientists, donors and policymakers, two linked sessions connect moral action to halt deforestation with the monitoring and finance that sustain forests, and the communities who steward them.
Register here
Note: Places are limited. Please register ASAP, and we will get back to you to confirm your attendance.
Programme
2:15 -2:30 PM - Welcome and keynote address: Forests for Climate, Communities, and Conservation
2:30 – 4:00 PM — Climate Action in an Era of Polarisation: How to Bridge the Divide? Co-hosted by IRI and UNEP, this session confronts the political polarisation now surrounding climate and zero-deforestation commitments — in rainforest nations and the consumer economies driving forest loss alike. Drawing together environmental NGOs, faith institutions, Indigenous Peoples, donors and policymakers, it explores the moral authority of faith leaders, the links between conflict and deforestation, campaigning amid polarised politics, and the narratives that shift public demand — surfacing approaches that build dialogue across opposing camps. Open discussion follows, closing with a viewing of the Amazonia VR film.
4:30 – 6:00 PM — Forest Monitoring for Communities, Conservation Climate and Capital. Convened by FAO, FCLP, IRI, UN-REDD and GATC with the UK (DESNZ) and Norway (NICFI), this session places Indigenous Peoples and local communities at the centre of forest protection. It examines how community-led forest and tenure monitoring can advance the Intergovernmental Land Tenure Commitment and wider goals on forest conservation, sharpen transparency and accountability.
- Opening remarks & key announcements. New support for forest monitoring from the UK and Norway, alongside an update from Brazil on the forest agenda — the Intergovernmental Land Tenure Commitment and the deforestation roadmap.
- Keynote. Forest monitoring for communities, conservation and climate, from the leader of the Mesoamerican Forest Peoples Alliance and Co-Chair of GATC.
- Panel · Monitoring, tenure & finance. How forest and tenure monitoring can advance international commitments, strengthen transparency and accountability, and unlock results-based finance that rewards Indigenous stewardship of forests.
6:00 -7:00 PM — Closing remarks and networking drinks
Climate action and zero-deforestation commitments have grown politically polarised — across rainforest nations and the consumer economies driving forest loss alike. Meeting that challenge calls for shared understanding, across the political spectrum, ideology and faiths, that climate action is not ideological but existential.
Robust forest monitoring gives that conviction evidence: it makes visible both the loss and the protection of landscapes of sacred and ancestral value, and equips communities to hold actors accountable to their commitments — and to unlock the finance that rewards their stewardship.