Beyond Carbon - Elevating the Adaptive Role of Forests in the Global Goal on Adaptation (FLARE 2025 Conference Brief)

<p dir="ltr">Climate policy has emphasized the contributions forests make to mitigating global climate change through carbon sequestration and reducing greenhouse gas emissions due to forest loss. The focus has meant that the critical, multifaceted role of forests in climate change adaptation has been overlooked, jeopardizing forest ecosystems and the well-being and resilience of billions of people who rely on them worldwide. The Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) established as part of the Paris Agreement offers a vital opportunity to correct this imbalance. Effective monitoring systems under this goal, including an emerging indicator framework, must capture the full spectrum of forest benefits (e.g., food and water security, hazard protection, cultural services). Indicator selection for this purpose critically shapes investment priorities. The communities that manage and depend on forests should be involved from the outset in defining targets and metrics, leveraging community-based monitoring (CBM) to align high-level reporting with bottom-up lived experiences. Such participation and inclusion of key forest related indicators will strengthen GCA implementation and effectiveness. This brief presents three key recommendations for leveraging forests for global climate adaptation based on recent research and local expertise shared at the 2025 FLARE Annual Meeting in Lima, Peru.</p><p dir="ltr">To learn more about FLARE, visit <a href="http://forestlivelihoods.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">forestlivelihoods.org</a></p>