Progress on the New York Declaration on Forests – Goal 2 Assessment Report & Update on Goals 1-10

On behalf of the New York Declaration on Forests (NYDF) Assessment Coalition, Climate Focus is pleased to announce the release of its annual NYDF progress assessment. The NYDF Progress Assessment is supported by a broad coalition of civil society and research organizations that annually evaluates progress in meeting the NYDF goals. Drawing on and consolidating data from 12 initiatives by leading think tanks and research organizations engaged in monitoring forest commitments, and incorporating insight from original interviews with corporate sustainability officers, this year’s assessment focuses on Goal 2 of the NYDF, which calls on companies to end deforestation associated with the production of key agricultural commodities. The report aggregates, cross-references and interprets data from a range of data sources that dive deep into corporate practices and forest-floor developments to provide the most comprehensive assessment of corporate supply chain commitments to date. It shows that the global supply-chain movement continues to gain momentum with an increase in pledges and some progress on implementation. The overall impact on forests is, however, currently impossible to assess. Any analytical effort is also burdened by scattered data and multiple and overlapping definitions.

A second report, released at the same time, provides updates on all ten goals of the NYDF. Despite positive developments, it shows that there is still much action that needs to be taken to ensure a lasting impact and successful protection of the tropical forests.

Twelve think tanks and research organizations contributed to the two reports: CDP, Climate Focus, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Forest Trends, Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves (GACC), Global Canopy Programme (GCP), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Rainforest Alliance, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), The Sustainability Consortium (TSC), Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC), World Resources Institute (WRI) and Global Forest Watch.

You can access both reports and executive summaries in the attached links or here: forestdeclaration.org