Targets on forests in the NDCs are insufficient despite the crucial role of forests in climate change mitigation and adaptation.
The new report, Raising the Bar: Strengthening Forest Ambition in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), assesses the extent to which NDCs integrate forest-related measures, and includes 130 NDCs from Parties with greater than 100,000 hectares of forest. Less than half of assessed NDCs set a forest-
specific emissions mitigation target and quantitative targets on key forest issues are insufficient. Only 4% of NDCs explicitly include explicit references to DCF production or supply chains and many monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) sections lack mentions of forests.
Without sufficient ambition and implementation of forest-related targets and measures, including those linking to biodiversity commitments and actions, governments risk breaking the promises they have made to halt and reverse deforestation and forest degradation by 2030. The report includes the following recommendations for policymakers to fill the gap.
- Elevate forests as a national priority within NDCs
- Simplify and improve accounting and reporting
- Prioritize target areas that need more ambition, and ensure NDCs are synergistic with other national plans, such as NBSAPs, NAPs and SDGs.
- Set specific, timebound targets and detailed policy measures for implementation
- Align and increase finance for forests
- Build capacity and knowledge
- Improve interministerial coordination and strengthen synergies across policy processes