The Australian Government is delivering on its election commitment to host the Asia-Pacific Rainforest Summit in Sydney on 12 November 2014.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop made the announcement in New York overnight at the United Nations Secretary General’s Climate Summit.
The Asia-Pacific Rainforest Summit will bring together ministers from countries across the region and leaders from business to find practical ways to reduce rainforest loss and restore rainforest landscapes.
Asia-Pacific rainforests support extraordinary biodiversity, provide economic opportunity and livelihoods to millions and store billions of tonnes of carbon.
Slowing and halting the loss of precious rainforests is critical to addressing the global challenge of climate change.
The Summit will be preceded by a Stakeholder Dialogue on 11 November 2014 for technical and policy experts from business, government and civil society to explore action to slow rainforest loss in the region.
The Rainforest Summit will bring a regional focus to some of the key positive elements of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Climate Summit. It will have a focus on:
• Better tools to monitor forests, including using satellite technology
• Combating illegal logging in the region
• Protecting the unique biodiversity of regional rainforests
• Building on private sector commitments to reduce or eliminate deforestation from the supply chain
• Including indigenous and community groups in decisions about forests.
The Rainforest Summit precedes the World Parks Congress to be held in Sydney from 12 to 19 November.
Further details are available from www.environment.gov.au/rainforestsummit
Follow the Summit on twitter @envirogov
(ENDS)