This event will highlight the key role of forests and trees in simultaneously supporting climate stability and food security through the launch of three complementary publications by FAO and partners. Diverse stakeholders will discuss the implications of the findings for climate policy and action.

Forests and trees play a key role in climate action. Halting deforestation and increasing forest cover are cost-effective solutions to mitigate climate change, cutting emissions by over 5 GtCO₂eq each year – about 11 percent of total annual emissions. Forests do much more for the climate than store and sequester carbon. Intact forests provide a dramatic global cooling effect through evapotranspiration and via their physical structure and chemistry. Their ability to regulate rainfall and stabilize local climate helps minimize extreme weather, making forests essential for climate change adaptation and resilience. Future agricultural productivity in the tropics, and beyond, depends on the climate regulatory functions that forests provide. Protected, restored and sustainably managed forests also provide a host of biodiversity benefits that enhance the adaptive capacity of people and ecosystems.

Speakers will highlight these diverse climate benefits of forests and trees through the launch of three complementary publications:

1. Forest-based adaptation: Transformational adaptation through forests and trees (FAO)
2. From reference levels to results: REDD+ reporting by countries (FAO)
3. Not Just Carbon: Capturing all the benefits of forests for stabilizing the climate from local to global (WRI)

For further information, please contact Amy Duchelle, FAO Team Leader on Forests and Climate: Amy.Duchelle@fao.org.

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