Green growth, sustainable land use and investment, and private-sector pledges to stop clearing rainforests: the Asia-Pacific region is ramping up these and other strategies to address climate change and biodiversity loss in some of the world’s most rapidly developing economies.
The 2018 Asia-Pacific Rainforest Summit – the third of its kind – drew more than 1,100 participants from over 30 countries to Yogyakarta, Indonesia to exchange ideas and key practices for slowing and reversing deforestation in the region. Speakers from the Philippines to Fiji to Singapore to Indonesia shared insights on conservation, livelihoods and investment over two days of intense discussions in the vibrant city on the island of Java.
Hosted by the Indonesian Government with the support of the Australian Government and in partnership with the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the 3rd APRS built on the success of the summits in Brunei Darussalam in 2016 and in Sydney, Australia in 2014.
This year’s focus was “Protecting forests and people, supporting economic growth,” a theme taken to heart by high-level speakers and discussants alike. Countries shared examples of their work on forest conservation, as well as progress on implementing their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Climate Change Agreement and opportunities for cross-country collaboration within the region to meet these goals.