Open AccessGlobal forest governance and sustainable development: reflections on the life and times of John Spears
Author(s) -
Hans M. Gregersen,
Peter A. Dewees,
Hosny El-Lakany,
Benjamin D. Singer,
Jürgen Blaser
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
international forestry review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.526
H-Index - 48
eISSN - 2053-7778
pISSN - 1465-5489
DOI - 10.1505/146554820829523934
Subject(s) - poverty , sustainable development , corporate governance , global governance , international development , perspective (graphical) , political science , commission , sustainability , climate change , community forestry , environmental resource management , economic growth , business , forestry , economics , forest management , geography , ecology , finance , artificial intelligence , computer science , law , biology
The late John Spears' international career coincided with the emergence of global forest governance. His contributions at the World Bank, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and at the World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development (WCFSD) are characterized by an unfailing call to integrate objectives towards forests and trees into broader development goals and particularly to tap the power of forests and trees to contribute to poverty alleviation. This paper describes the evolution of global forest governance since the early 1970s, especially focusing on the period when Spears was highly influential in the global forest policy debate. It gives an emphasis to the efforts the international community has made in adopting a more comprehensive perspective toward the role of forests in sustainable development. Despite this, global forest governance has recently tended to focus more narrowly on climate change at the expense of attention to the problem of poverty. While climate change is a major priority in its own right, we argue that this limited perspective needs to be overcome to unlock the full potential of forests in sustainable development, aimed at combating poverty.