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The 2030 Global Forest Vision (GFV), released in March 2025 by the Forest Declaration Assessment (FDA), outlines priority actions for governments to reverse forest loss and align environmental and trade policies ahead of UNFCCC COP30 (November 2025).

Background:

• The Forest Declaration Assessment (FDA) was established in 2015 to monitor progress on the New York Declaration on Forests (NYDF), a voluntary pact launched in 2014.
• NYDF includes 10 goals aimed at halting deforestation by 2030 and is supported by governments, corporations, indigenous groups, and civil society.
• India is not a signatory to the NYDF as of 2025.

Current State of Forests (Key Data):

• Despite commitments from 140 countries, 6.37 million hectares of forests were lost in 2023.
• Major drivers of deforestation:
  • Agricultural demand for palm oil, soy, beef, and timber.
  • 80% of Amazon deforestation is due to cattle ranching.
  • 800+ million trees lost between 2017–2022 to meet Brazilian beef exports.
  • In Indonesia and Malaysia, palm oil expansion threatens orangutans and Sumatran tigers.

Eight Priority Actions for Governments (GFV 2025):

1. Ambition:Integrate forest conservation into national climate and biodiversity plans and COP30 commitments.
2. Trade:Ensure legal, deforestation-free, and degradation-free trade through international partnerships.
3. Finance:Scale up results-based payments and forest carbon credit systems, as agreed in the 2024 Forest & Climate Leaders’ Statement.
4. Rights:Secure land rights of Indigenous Peoples (IPs) and Local Communities (LCs) to protect traditional forest stewardship.
5. Supervision:Mandate financial institutions to assess and manage forest-related risks.
6. Subsidies:Repurpose harmful subsidies to support sustainable food systems, bioeconomy, and forest management.
7. Governance:Align land-use sector governance with global forest and climate commitments.
8. Debt Flexibility:Recognize forests as natural capital in debt management to enhance fiscal space for forest-rich countries.

Global and Regional Efforts:

• EU Deforestation Regulation (2026):Bans imports linked to deforestation; companies must ensure supply chain transparency.
• U.S. Initiatives:Stricter laws against illegal logging and deforestation-linked imports.
• Challenges:
  • China and India have not implemented deforestation-free trade regulations.
  • Smallholder farmers lack the resources to certify products as deforestation-free.
  • Developing nations (Brazil, Indonesia, African countries) express concerns over economic impacts of stricter trade rules.

Recommendations by GFV 2025:

• Tighten Global Trade Policies:Prevent companies from rerouting products to markets with weak regulations.
• Adopt Deforestation-Free Trade Laws:India, China, and other major economies urged to enact such policies.
• Support Local Economies:Provide technical and financial support to farmers for sustainable practices.
• Enhance Global Monitoring:Improve tracking systems for forest-linked commodities and promote global cooperation.