Sustainable Development Goals

Main SDG introduction

World leaders adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at a historic UN conference in September 2015. The SDGs call for action by all countries to promote prosperity while protecting the planet, thereby recognizing that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies to build economic growth, address social needs, tackle climate change and ensure environmental sustainability.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the sustainable management of productive forests in the tropics, and a sustainable tropical timber trade, can help in meeting future wood demand and achieving the SDGs. ITTO is empowered to promote the expansion of international tropical timber trade from legal and sustainable sources. It is perfectly placed, therefore, to assist countries in their efforts towards all the SDGs, especially SDG 1 (“No poverty”), SDG 12 (“Responsible consumption and production”), SDG 13 (“Climate action”) and SDG 15 (“Life on land”). Some of the ways it is doing this are outlined below.

Select one or multiple SDGs below to see ITTO’s contributions towards achieving them.


 
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Photo: R. Carrillo/ITTO
Sustainable tropical forest industries are an important part of the solution to forest degradation, deforestation and poverty by generating revenue from sustainably managed forests and providing employment and income in rural communities.

In many tropical countries, however, small and medium-sized forest enterprises often lack the capacity and enabling environment they need to flourish. They face challenges such as inadequate planning, low profitability, and a lack of research and development, marketing skills and access to finance.

ITTO is helping provide solutions to these and other challenges by supporting countries and enterprises to:
  • Pursue innovative approaches to the sustainable and inclusive industrialization of the tropical forest sector.
  • Improve efficiency in the processing and marketing of forest products.
  • Address forest law enforcement, governance and trade.
  • Develop legal and sustainable wood supply chains.
  • Establish and manage forest plantations.

Related ITTO contributions for the selected Sustainable Development Goal(s)
(25 results found)

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ITTO launches e-course on legal, sustainable timber supply chains

Quality education Industry, innovation and infrastructure Responsible production and consumption Life on land
A free online learning course launched by ITTO as part of a global effort to improve forest education will assist entrepreneurs, forestry professionals, government officials and students in understanding legal and sustainable timber supply chains, thereby supporting businesses to meet market requirements for legality and sustainability and improve their forest practices. More
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Advancing forestry education in the Congo Basin

Quality education Gender equality Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Mastering forestry to meet the needs of sustainable development is an increasingly complex task. An ITTO study in the Congo Basin concluded there was insufficient human capacity there to ensure sustainable forestry. A subregional ITTO project encompassing seven education institutions in five countries sought to address this and contribute to Sustainable Development Goal 4 ("quality education"). More
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Developing the bamboo industry in Indonesia

No poverty Gender equality Industry, innovation and infrastructure Sustainable cities and communities Responsible consumption and production Life on land
There has been a paradigm shift in forest management in Indonesia, in which timber is no longer the main output. Instead, the forest sector is focused increasingly on the production of non-timber forest products as a means to improve the economies of forest communities, regions and the nation. More
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Promoting legal and sustainable supply chains

No poverty Decent work and economic growth Industry, innovation and infrastructure Responsible consumption and production Climate action Life on land Partnerships for the goals
A supply chain comprises the organizations, activities and methods associated with all stages of the business processes involved in planning, sourcing, processing, manufacturing and delivering goods and services. A legal and sustainable supply chain is one that minimizes negative environmental and social impacts. More
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When micro businesses have macro impact

No poverty Quality education Gender equality Decent work and economic growth Industry, innovation and infrastructure Sustainable cities and communities Responsible consumption and production
In many countries, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are the largest collective source of employment, and they are vital for national economies. In Guatemala, it is a government priority to support MSMEs and, as part of this, an ITTO project known as the Forest MSME Management Project encouraged informal businesses to become part of the country’s formal economy. More