Participation from Norway at the summit included; Head of the Norwegian Parliament’s Standing Committee for Energy and the Environment, Mr. Ole Elvestuen, who took part in two panel discussions, while Ambassador Stig Traavik joined the closing plenary panel discussion. Other Norwegian representatives came from the Council on Ethics for the Norwegian Government Pension Fund, the Norwegian Rainforest Foundation, and from Norwegian Forestry Group.
The aim of the Forests Asia Summit was to lay the foundations for continued dialogue, transitions toward sustainable investments, and further research to support evidence-based policymaking, all directed toward achieving equitable green growth and more sustainable management of landscapes across Southeast Asia.
The Summit was co-hosted by the Center for International Forestry Research and the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry, in collaboration with coordinating partner Global Initiatives, seven supporting partners and eight funding partners, among them the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD). The 31 sessions at the Summit, hosted by a total of 19 organizations, included discussion forums and high-level panel discussions on the following themes:
- Governance and legal frameworks to promote sustainable landscapes
- Investing in landscapes for green returns
- Climate change and low-emissions development on the ground
- Forest landscapes for food and biodiversity 5.Changing communities, sustainable landscapes and equitable development.
Key messages from each session were captured by session hosts and organizers and relayed into the high-level panel discussions and the closing plenary, for further discussion.
The Summit was attended by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who gave the keynote address, and 10 government ministers and deputy ministers from across Southeast Asia. Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, Peruvian Minister of Environment and President of COP20, and Mark Burrows, Managing Director and Vice Chair, Global Investment Banking, Credit Suisse, gave keynote addresses on Day 2.
Key messages from the summit were;
To achieve equitable and sustainable green growth in Southeast Asia, all stakeholder groups must strive to overcome communication barriers, engage in continued, participatory dialogue, and act together within a landscape and multilevel governance framework.
- Government, the corporate sector and the finance sector must work together to create enabling conditions to unlock private capital and support investments in sustainable landscapes and smallholders.
- The scientific community, with support from the public and private sectors, must engage in integrated and targeted research aimed at increasing understanding of the dynamics that shape landscapes and communicate findings to government and business in a way that supports evidence-based changes in policy and practice toward a sustainable future and action on the ground. Government ministers, deputy ministers, forestry department directors, CEOs and business executives, civil society leaders, scientists and funding partners from Southeast Asia and beyond joined the call for action, made commitments, and shared lessons and experiences on green growth and sustainable development.
Forest Asia at a glance;
- 2,200 participants in attendance throughout the two-day event
- 6,025 views of Summit online livestream
- More than 20,000 page views of Forests Asia website
- 120 speakers and 52 partner organizations leading discussions in 31 sessions on governance, investment, climate change, food and biodiversity and equitable development
- Delegations from all Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and 12 Ministers and Vice Ministers
- Capacity building Youth session: 150 of Southeast Asia’s young minds put forward recommendations for youth’s role in building a sustainable future
- Journalist training: 18 journalists from leading print, TV, radio and online media outlets
- Social media bootcamp: 70 communications staff from government, NGOs, research institutes and universities
- 70 journalists and 80 bloggers in attendance and press releases reaching more than 4,500 journalists worldwide
- 8,000 #ForestsAsia tweets sent by 1,065 contributors, delivered to 2.44 million different Twitter users over two days. Indonesian President, Yudhoyono tweeted about Forests Asia, reaching 4.9 million Twitter users