Note: The following is a joint statement that GJEP has signed onto. You can find the statement, with any updated signatories, at this link.
A Call for Equitable Accountability on the International Day of Forests
March 21, 2025
International Day of Forests is not only a celebration of the lifegiving ecosystems that cover nearly one-third of our planet, but also of the global bonds they create. Forests unify, connecting us through the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the birdsong we hear. They also unite us in a shared purpose — a common responsibility, held by all countries, to protect and steward forests for future generations.
That responsibility is still unmet. The international community has aligned around the necessity of halting and reversing deforestation and forest degradation by 2030, alongside protecting and restoring ecosystem integrity, including ending the loss of ecosystems of high ecological integrity; however, industrial pressures on forests continue at unsustainable rates. From the tropics to the boreal, there is too little progress on turning commitments into action.
As we enter the second half of this critical decade, we urge international leaders to establish mechanisms that foster equitable global accountability for delivering on these 2030 targets.
In the absence of consistent, unified accountability mechanisms, the international community has failed to deliver on its forest goals. Standards and reporting structures have been piecemeal and disproportionately focused on tropical deforestation, leaving large loopholes and data gaps in places such as the temperate and boreal forests of the Global North, and in other wooded lands at risk of accelerating degradation and loss. This global disconnect has driven down ambition everywhere.
We need equitable accountability now more than ever. Amid volatile political dynamics, norms and commitments have become even more fragile. Some of the wealthiest countries are casting aside environmental guardrails and heightening efforts to sidestep progress abroad. Many governments are subsidizing industries that are degrading or destroying forests, even while
failing to meet their forest finance commitments to the Global South.
Achieving the 2030 forest goals will require unprecedented cooperation and partnership between countries, grounded in shared commitment and equitable responsibility. Claims of sustainability cannot be taken on faith simply because of a country’s wealth or standing; partnerships crumble under inequitable standards.
Equitable standards are also good for business, fostering marketplace certainty and risk transparency. Far from stifling global trade, building commonality between global expectations creates a healthier, more resilient economy.
It is apt that International Day of Forests coincides each year with the equinox, a moment of planetary parity, of global alignment. This International Day of Forests, we call on global leaders to prioritize equitable accountability, truly unifying the world around our shared responsibility and need. With a closing window for action, the future of our forests hangs in the balance.
Signed,
350 Brooklyn
350 Eugene
350 Mass Berkshires
350 Mass Boston
350 Mass Mystic Valley
350 Mass Newton
350 Mass North Shore
350 Rutland County
AbibiNsroma Foundatiion
AirClim
Alpine Lakes Protection Society
Australian Forests and Climate Alliance
Bellingen Environment Centre
Biodiversity Conservation Center
BirdLife International
BirdLife Sverige
Blue Dalian
Bulkley Valley Stewardship Coalition
CalWild
Center for Biological Diversity
Centro de Desarrollo Ambiental y Humano
ClimActs
CLIMARTE
Climate Action Network Canada
Climate Communications Coalition
Climate Diet
Climate Reality Greater Maryland
Coastal Plain Conservation Group
Comité Schone Lucht
Conservation North
Dogwood Alliance
EARTHDAY.ORG
Earth Action, Inc.
Earth Ethics, Inc.
Earth Thrive
East African Sustainability Watch Network
Eco-Integrity Alliance
Ei polteta tulevaisuutta
Elders Climate Action Maryland
Environment East Gippsland
Environmental Paper Network
Federation of Community Forests Users Nepal
Fern
Forces for Nature
Forest Keeper
Forest Watch Indonesia
ForestCom
Forests Forever
Forests of the World
Forum Ökologie & Papier
Foundation Earth
Friends of Bats and Habitat Gippsland
Friends of the Earth U.S.
FUNDACIÓN NATURALEZA EL SALVADOR
Gallatin Wildlife Association
General Strike
Global Justice Ecology Project
Global Witness
Great Southern Forest
Green Impact
Greenish Foundation
health-and-forest
Heartwood
Institute for Sustainable Development Foundation
Landelijk Netwerk Bossen- en Bomenbescherming
Last Tree Laws
Latvian Ornithological Society
League of Wilderness Defenders
Leefmilieu
LIVE
Mighty Earth
Ministry for Social Justice, Peace, and Creation Care of the Sisters of St Joseph of
Toronto
Mobilisation for the Environment
National Wildlife Federation
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Nature Canada
Nature Nova Scotia
Nature Quebec
NC Climate Solutions Coalition
Nepal Indigenous Working Group, IKPNs, SWBC
New Jersey Forest Watch
NOAH -Friends of the Earth Denmark
Old-Growth Forest Network
Oregon Wild
Owen-Putnam Friends of the Forest
Partnership for Policy Integrity
Pivot Point
Practical Action Nepal
Protect Our Woods
Protect the Forest Sweden
Rainforest Action Network
ROBIN WOOD
SAFIRE
Save Estonia’s Forests
Science Alliance for Forestry Transformation
Sierra Club BC
Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter
Silva Forest Foundation
SoCal 350 Climate Action
Social Compassion in Legislation
Solutions for Our Climate
South-West Forests Defence Foundation
Southern Forests Conservation Coalition
Sport and Sustainability International
Stand.earth
Standing Trees
Sustainable Development and Climate Change
Tasmanian Climate Collective
Tennessee Heartwood
The Australian Foundation for Wilderness
The Bronx is Blooming
The ChariTree Foundation
The Enviro Show
The Montana Project
The Tree Projects
Trend Asia
Turtle Island Restoration Network
Uganda Coalition for Sustainable Development
Victorian Forest Alliance
WALHIJAWA TIMUR
Warburton Environment
Watertown Faces Climate Change: 350 Mass
Wendell State Forest Alliance
Wilderness Committee
Wild Heritage
Wild Nature Institute
WILPF Canada
Workshops for Biodiversity
World Friends for Africa Burkina Faso
Yaak Valley Forest Council
Youth4Nature Foundation
