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During the 2-day high-level political dialogue, the ministers are deliberating a common vision, strategic goals and measurable targets for European forests by 2020. The ministers are further expected to agree on the Oslo mandate for negotiating a legally binding agreement on forests in Europe. Such an agreement would be an historical step forward – for forests and for a European and global forest policy cooperation. This European cooperation responds to the difficult discussions on a global forest convention that started already before the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.
If ministers at the conference in Oslo decide to launch negotiations on a legally binding agreement, Europe will reconfirm its political will and ability to lead the way on complex issues of forest management: to the benefit of people, our environment and the globe. The FOREST EUROPE Ministerial Conference also represents a major European contribution in highlighting the importance of forests in the International Year of Forests 2011.
Norway currently holds the FOREST EUROPE chairmanship, and is hosting the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe in Oslo. Spain will take over the chairmanship at the Ministerial Conference in Norway.
