The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) has released a new study exploring how best practices from the Global South can assist nations worldwide in curbing deforestation. The findings of this report will be presented at the World Trade Organization’s Thirteenth Ministerial Conference next week.
As per an IISD press release, the research evaluates efforts to diminish deforestation and enhance forest conservation in five developing countries, detailing both their successes and challenges. The report focuses on Costa Rica, Gabon, Indonesia, Peru, and Rwanda. It presents a comparative analysis of the deforestation policies implemented by these countries and discusses the role of voluntary sustainability standards (VSSs).
"Forests sustain and protect us in a myriad of ways, but they are disappearing—fast. The world has lost 420 million hectares of forest in the past three decades. That’s an area bigger than India," said Cristina Larrea, IISD’s lead on sustainability standards. "But there is hope. We must not lose sight of the efforts many countries in the Global South have been undertaking to curb this trend for many decades, nor the value of sharing the lessons they have learned to inspire policy action based on best practices."
The IISD press release also reveals that governments employing a mix of strategies tailored to their local contexts and aimed at high-risk areas achieve more significant success. These governments can further enhance their chances of success by aiding producers in maintaining compliance, mobilizing funds from public and private sectors, leveraging VSSs to support policies, and utilizing physical and digital monitoring to measure results and promptly identify issues.
"Environmental issues are getting harder to ignore in the international trade arena," Florencia Sarmiento, an IISD policy analyst stated. "Governments must comply with an emerging suite of international regulations and frameworks, including several unilateral trade-related measures such as due diligence requirements aimed at tackling deforestation driven by production and trade of commodities. Many have also started looking into cooperative approaches, such as including forest conservation provisions in free trade agreements."
