Forests for sustainable development: a process approach to forest sector contributions to the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

The paper takes off from the point stressed in 1987 by the UN World Commission on Environment and Development (WCSD) when it introduced the concept of sustainable development into the UN as ... not a fixed state of harmony, but rather a process of change. This paper describes a sustainable development as process (SDAP) approach for the forest sector and the principles involved in such an approach. These principles relate to how the forest sector processes need to evolve to meet the ever-changing global challenges facing the sector in the context of the new UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It is argued that there is need for much stronger, effective linkages between processes within the sector and with other sectors locally and across countries. The final part of the paper discusses how the forest sector best can contribute to the success of the new UN Agenda using a SDAP approach.