Given the limited progress and the gap in ambition across different sectors, the upcoming revision of the NDCs provides a unique opportunity to demonstrate renewed political will and leadership to protect forests and natural ecosystems for sustainable development, including climate change mitigation and adaptation. Forests provide cost-effective mitigation opportunities to remove and store carbon at large scales, to complement the massive emissions reductions required in other sectors.
In this context, this paper provides recommendations for how government decision-makers can incorporate the full potential of forests for climate change mitigation and adaptation in NDCs under the Paris Agreement. It seeks to inform policymakers in developing measurable policies and actions for NDCs and other national climate strategies and policy documents.