UN University (UNU) Conversation Series: ITTO Executive Director Sheam Satkuru
Sustainable tropical forestry as a nature-based solution to climate change resilience, mitigation and adaptation

On 17 April 2025, UNU will host “Sustainable Tropical Forestry as a Nature-based Solution to Climate Change Resilience, Mitigation and Adaptation”, a conversation with Ms Sheam Satkuru, Executive Director of the International Tropical Timber Organization. This event will start at 18:30 in the 2F Reception Hall at UNU Headquarters in Tokyo.

Tropical forests hold the potential to sequester carbon dioxide while nurturing biodiversity and contributing to carbon-neutral and circular bio-economies. The food, income, environmental services and resources that tropical forests provide are indispensable for many communities across the world, especially forest-dependent Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

Tropical forests produce wood and non-wood forest products, protect soil and water, filter the air, prevent land degradation and desertification, and reduce the risk of natural disasters such as floods and droughts. As tropical forests offer a vital pathway toward a climate-resilient future, it is imperative we ensure their conservation.

Ms Sheam Satkuru will join UNU Rector Tshilidzi Marwala to discuss solutions to global challenges, focusing on climate change resilience, mitigation and adaptation. What lessons can we learn from sustainably managed tropical forests? How do we incentivize forest conservation in global policymaking?

The UNU Conversation Series aims to foster audience participation; you are encouraged to engage with the speakers during the conversation and at the reception that will follow, where all event attendees are invited to enjoy hors d’oeuvres and drinks while exchanging ideas and making new contacts.

For registration details, please visit: https://unu.edu/conversation-series/tropical-forestry-nature-based-solution-climate-change-resilience-mitigation