In a statement to the High Level Segment of the United Nations Forum on Forests in New York on 14 May 2015, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres highlighted the importance of forests in meeting the climate change challenge.

Global deforestation alone accounts for more than 20 per cent of the world’s CO2 emissions. Therefore, global action on forests is crucial to meet the challenge climate change presents, and REDD+ is key to unlocking forest mitigation potential in many developing countries.

The Paris agreement is poised to be a blueprint for climate-safe development, requiring every country to come together, build on the good work done to date and set our global compass towards a long-term vision of a stable, secure future. Forests play a crucial role in accomplishing this goal.

Read the full statement here.