The latest State of the World’s Forestsreport, from the UN FAO, analyses how forests and trees contribute to 28 targets across ten Sustainable Development Goals. Echoing the urgency of the recent IPCC report, UN FAO emphasise that swift action is needed to avoid damaging consequences.

A report by WWF and ISEAL has stated that standards for supply chains and businesses can help accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while delivering direct benefits for companies and small-scale producers. These benefits can include minimising risk, efficiency gains, and improved transparency throughout the supply chain.

The State of the World’s Forests 2012 (SOFO 2012) report will be officially presented at Rio 20+ this week. The report argues that more sustainable use of forestry resources is key to meeting many of the core challenges being discussed at Rio 20+. This is through the role it can play in creating jobs in rural areas and the possibilities of recycling and carbon storage offered by sustainably managed timber products.