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.


 
Please scroll down to see the search results
Photo: R. Carrillo/ITTO
Wood—the world’s largest source of bioenergy—can help meet growing demand for low-carbon energy. Forests, therefore, can play a vital role in meeting future energy demand without adding to net greenhouse-gas emissions by helping create a sustainable energy supply while improving social, economic and environmental outcomes.

The challenge for many tropical countries is to ensure energy security, especially for rural communities and vulnerable groups, where household reliance on biomass energy is still high. ITTO projects:
  • Promote the economically viable restoration of degraded landscapes and the sustainable production of wood and wood-based energy.
  • Encourage the adoption of agroforestry systems in the margins of natural and planted forests to produce food, fibre and bioenergy for direct consumption and sale.
  • Promote the use of wood residues for the cogeneration of energy in forest industries.

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

Thumbnail

Sustainable tropical wood can contribute to decarbonize societies, Executive Director tells policy dialogue

Affordable and clean energy Responsible production and consumption Climate action Life on land Partnerships for the goals
ITTO Executive Director Sheam Satkuru asserted at an international event that there are several opportunities to continue working with countries to further develop sustainable wood supply chains in the tropics as means for achieving society-wide carbon neutrality. More
Thumbnail

Side-event hosted by ITTO and Teaknet examines challenges and opportunities for boosting teak value

Affordable and clean energy Decent work and economic growth Responsible production and consumption Climate action Life on land
A side-event convened jointly by ITTO and the International Teak Information Network (Teaknet) during the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) Forest Products Conference in Cairns, Australia, on 4–8 June 2023, explored means for boosting the value of teakwood products. More
Thumbnail

Restoring degraded land with planted forests for biofuel in Indonesia

Affordable and clean energy Life on land
Indonesia is striving to increase its supply of renewable green energy, including with forests. For example, it plans to use biomass grown by local communities on degraded land in northern Sumatra to support the development of a green-energy sector. This will both help improve the quality of forests in the area and provide local people with new employment opportunities. More
Thumbnail

Forest restoration, sustainable charcoal and empowered women in Côte d’Ivoire

No poverty Zero hunger Gender equality Affordable and clean energy Decent work and economic growth Reduced inequalities Responsible consumption and production Climate action Life on land
A small grant from ITTO in 2009 provided the stimulus for MALEBI, a women’s association in Côte d’Ivoire, to improve charcoal production using efficient, eco-friendly techniques, in the process increasing the standard of living in the local community and raising awareness of the importance of forest conservation. More