Forest and Water on a Changing Planet: Scientific Insights for Achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals

This policy brief summarizes the key messages of the GFEP report “Forest and Water on a Changing Planet: Vulnerability, Adaptation and Governance Opportunities. A Global Assessment Report” and reaches out to international as well as national policymakers and other stakeholders.

Following key messages are highlighted:

• The link between water and forests exists within a broader climate-forest-water-people system
• Water is central to all 17 SDGs
• Forests, especially natural forests, contribute to the resilience of water supply for humans
• Forests can be managed for resilience of water supplies to enable adaptation to global change
• International and regional institutional and governance frameworks can play a key role in optimising climate-forest-water management
• A clear policy gap in climate-forest-water relations exists, waiting to be filled
• Outstanding knowledge gaps on the forest-water nexus must urgently be tackled

PDFs for download

• Policy Brief (high resolution)  (PDF, 14.3 MB)
• Policy Brief (low resolution)  (PDF, 1.1 MB)