UN Global Forest Goals Report 2026: Global Forest Area Fell 40 Million Hectares in 10 Years; Progress Real But Insufficient for SDGs

The United Nations released The Global Forest Goals Report 2026 on May 11, documenting a decade of international progress and persistent gaps. The report — produced by UN DESA and covering the period 2015–2025 — found that global forest area declined by more than 40 million hectares between 2015 and 2025, despite policy acceleration and the launch of major restoration frameworks. Countries have strengthened forest governance, expanded law enforcement, and increased restoration commitments — yet the pace of progress remains fundamentally insufficient to achieve the SDG forest-related targets by 2030. Financing for sustainable forest management remains far below the estimated $130 billion per year needed. The report highlighted that many countries' restoration pledges focus on tree planting rather than ecosystem function, leading to a documented divergence between headline tree counts and verified ecological recovery. UNEP and FAO welcomed the report and called for a quantum leap in finance mobilization in the remaining five years of the current SDG cycle. The report feeds into preparations for the next UN Forum on Forests session and CBD post-2020 target monitoring.