As COP17 and COP31 convene, renewed leadership, investment, and collaboration are needed to turn existing commitments into meaningful action to conserve and restore the world’s forests.

Collared Trogon in Colombia. Photo: Andres Felipe Mosquera Alape/Audubon Photography Awards

As world leaders, negotiators, Indigenous peoples, civil society, and other stakeholders gather for the Convention on Biological Diversity’s COP17 and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’s COP31, one thing is clear: forests must be restored to the center of global climate and biodiversity action. The world’s forests are too important to fail. Renewed leadership and commitment are urgently needed to reignite momentum toward conserving and restoring these critical assets.

Value of forests

The science on this point is clear. The UNEP 2026 “ Limiting Overshoot ” report underscores the urgency of climate action. We will surpass 1.5 degrees Celsius of global temperature rise.…