Call to Action on Forests and Climate

The Cities4Forests Call to Action on Forests and Climate is a declaration by more than 50 cities across six continents enjoining governments, companies, and financial institutions to urgently ramp up policies and investments to conserve, restore and sustainably manage inner, nearby, and faraway forests.

Opportunity

All city residents depend on forests for crucial services like clean air, drinking water, and climate regulation. But almost all the world’s forests lie outside the city jurisdiction. Cities4Forests’ city members are working to expand urban tree cover, conserve and restore watershed forests, and ensure that products cities and their residents consume do not lead to deforestation in faraway forests.

But city actions will only go so far. Cities — and all the residents, investors, consumers, and voters they represent — are counting on other levels of government, and the private sector, to step up.

Project Description

The Cities4Forests “Call to Action on Forests & Climate” is issued by 58 cities, including more than 50 mayors, representing 170 million residents. This declaration urges national and subnational governments to develop and implement strong domestic policies to protect, restore, and sustainably manage the forests within their territories. It calls on companies to ensure their commodity supply chains are deforestation-free. And it encourages financial institutions to avoid financing activities that cause deforestation and instead prioritize investment in nature-based solutions such as forest conservation and restoration.

Cities4Forests and the Call to Action on Forests & Climate support several complementary city-oriented initiatives, including C40 and the C40 Urban Nature Declaration, and CitiesWithNature the Edinburgh Declaration and the Non-State Actor Call for Action. These initiatives mutually support cities and local governments through coordinated knowledge sharing, technical assistance, and support for political leadership on nature-based solutions. The Call to Action is supported by core funders, UK AID and Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative.

Explore city stories below to learn the unique impacts that cities around the world are taking on behalf of the world’s forests.