Across the world, WWF advocates for a future in which people and nature can thrive. An important piece of this effort is ensuring that policies, legislation and/or regulations, or the manner in which they are applied, safeguard forests.
These efforts are crucial to ensure that halting deforestation, and protecting, conserving, restoring and sustainably managing forests are at the front and center of political decisions and laws.
WWF works at the national, regional and global levels to make sure that policies are not detrimental to forests and people, reflecting and complemented by our work on the ground in the world’s most important forests. We have successfully influenced international and national forest commitments and goals, such as those included in the Paris Climate Agreement and national climate targets, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the New York Declaration on Forests and Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forests and Land Use, the Bonn Challenge, the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and the National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) of the Global Biodiversity Framework.
OUR WORK
- Influencing relevant international commitments: Ensuring ambitious forest actions are included in international agreements - such as those under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - and international commitments such as the Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forests and Land Use.
- Implementation of forest commitments: WWF works across the globe to campaign for and support implementation of international commitments into national policies and strategies, including through Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and NBSAPs.
- Tracking progress of commitments: WWF is engaging in multiple NGO-led processes to track progress of commitments, for example with the Forest Declaration Assessment, and identifying critical steps needed to meet the commitments under the Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forests and Land Use.
- Building momentum to repurpose harmful subsidies: Governments annually spend an estimated US$470 billion on agricultural subsidies that harm forests and other natural ecosystems, and contribute to biodiversity loss. Through an insightful scientific report that examines the impact of subsidies on deforestation and conversion of non-forest natural ecosystems, WWF is collaborating with partners to raise awareness - and action - around the need to redirect harmful agricultural subsidies toward protecting forests.
- Influencing government policy initiatives: WWF has played a critical role in some of the world’s most landmark legislation for forests, such as the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), the UK Forest Risk Commodity Regulation (UKFRC), EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), and the US Lacey Act. WWF further supports policies to tackle the illegal and unsustainable production of agricultural commodities that drive forest, grassland, and habitat loss globally.