The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report calls for upscaling and disseminating tried and tested adaptation measures that are recognized for their high feasibility and synergies with mitigation and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). One of these measures identified by the IPCC is “forest-based adaptation”, an ensemble of climate actions that employ forests and trees in support of climate change adaptation and resilience, including sustainable forest management, forest conservation and restoration, reforestation, silvopastoral systems, trees on farms and trees in cities.

Forests and trees provide ecosystem services which minimize exposure, reduce vulnerabilities, and strengthen capacities, thus contributing to adaptation and resilience. However, these adaptation services depend on forests being resilient to climate change. As such, forests and trees can sustain society’s efforts to adapt to climate change, yet they also require society’s contributions to maintain their resilience.

Building upon previous work in the field, FAO has been working with partners to highlight the contributions of forests and trees to fulfilling country commitments for climate change adaptation and resilience building. The FAO technical paper Forest-based adaptation: transformational adaptation through forests and trees (2022) unpacks the concept of forest-based adaptation and describes policy spheres that could bolster the role of forests and trees in providing adaptation and resilience benefits. It introduces a set of ten principles for using forests and trees to promote transformational adaptation, which were developed with leading experts from the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) and other partners. It describes the policy implications of each principle and draws on examples from diverse forest ecosystems and management practices to illustrate their application in practice.

Building on this work, we have facilitated a series of global and regional dialogues with international researchers and practitioners, adaptation and forestry country representatives, and climate finance actors to bolster cross-sectoral collaborations around emerging priorities, including to: promote mitigation-adaptation synergies; integrate forests in cross-sectoral adaptation strategies; assess the resilience of forests and trees to climate change; monitor adaptation progress; and mobilize finance for adaptation. This presentation will highlight the results of this collective work and indicate ways forward.

Speaker: Amy. E. Duchelle