Mr. Wu Hongbo Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Secretary-General for the International Conference on Small Island Developing States
Side Event organized by World Resources Institute, Government launch of new global forests monitoring partnership , at 10th session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF10)
9 April 2013, Turkey
Excellencies
Distinguished Experts,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am pleased to be here for a governmental preview of the Global Forest Watch version 2.
By now we have reached consensus that in achieving sustainable forest management, reliable, up-to-date and easily accessible data and information are essential to monitoring, assessment and effective interventions.
Indeed, at Rio+ 20 Conference, world leaders stressed the need for the continuation of a regular review of the state of the Earth’s changing environment and its impact on human well-being.
They welcomed such initiatives as the Global Environment Outlook process aimed at bringing together environmental information and assessments, and building national and regional capacity to support informed decision-making.
World leaders further recognized the importance of space-technology-based data, in situ monitoring and reliable geospatial information for sustainable development policymaking, programming and project operations.
Global Forest Watch 2.0, developed by the World Resources Institute with many partners, represents an important step in empowering decision-makers, and other stakeholders, to take evidence-based, informed decisions in advancing sustainable forest management.
Indeed, experience has shown that in order to promote sustainable forest management, and reverse deforestation, we need up-to-date, transparent, consistent and reliable information.
For developing countries, however, this can be costly. Data gathering is often fragmentary and data is scattered or not available.
The Global Forest Watch version 2 that will be launched next month could not come at a more crucial moment. With its accessibility, the Global Forest Water version 2 will help raise needed public awareness about forests, and their conditions on our shared planet and help mobilize action.
Excellencies,
For policy to be based on science and facts, data and information must be widely and easily accessible. It must also be in formats usable for decision-making, and in public domains.
Global Forest Watch version 2 will help achieve that objective. I commend World Resources Institute and its partners for developing this remarkable tool. I look forward to future opportunities for learning more about its application and impact on informed policy-making.
Thank you.
