Leaders From Business, Government, And Indigenous Communities Aim To Keep Forests Central At Climate Summit

The UN Climate Summit launches on Tuesday in New York, and indigenous leaders hope to keep forests front and center with a Monday event.

19 September 2014 | Year-end climate talks don’t enter the home stretch until December in Peru, but United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon is hosting an unofficial Climate Summit on Tuesday in New York as part of a “Climate Week designed to jump-start official talks.

Healthy rainforests are an important part of these talks because they’re critical to slowing climate change, while indigenous people and local communities are vital to the cause as well because they support healthy forests.

To underline this, the Ford Foundation together with the Climate and Land Use Alliance, which is a joint initiative operated by four foundations, are hosting an event for invited indigenous leaders, government officials and prominent businesspeople.

The event will focus on preventing deforestation and how protecting forests can serve as one of the most cost-effective methods to mitigate climate change. Because the plight of the world’s forests is key to solving the climate crisis, results from this event are likely to be central in the next day’s climate talks. The event will also highlight the important role indigenous communities play in preventing climate change.

Event hosts will draw on a number of resources to support these critical points. These include Forest Trends’ (publisher of Ecosystem Marketplace) recent report on illegal deforestation and the World Resources Institute and Rights and Resources Initiative’s study on strengthening community forest rights to curb climate change.

This forest climate event will run from 2:30-4:30 EST on Monday, September 22. It’s for invited guests only but will be live-streamed here. The event can also be followed on twitter through the hastag #forestclimate.

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