On 28 June 2024, the XXVI International Union Of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) World Congress issued the Stockholm Congress Statement calling for resolute and equitable actions and the best use of the knowledge provided by the global science community for informed and far-sighted decisions to move Forests and Society Towards 2050.

The IUFRO Congress emphasises the urgent need to:

• Counteract the severe interlinked crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation, environmental pollution, and mounting social injustice.
• Highlight the need for far-sighted, fact-based, and equitable decisions by everyone who must assume responsibility in their own spheres of influence.
• Recognise the global importance of forests, trees, and forest-based products and services for contributing to a sustainable and positive future transition.
• Realise that forests, trees, and forest-based products and services are not a panacea; however, their future is at risk if the world fails to take decisive action in other sectors and fields of human activity.
• Consider all dimensions of sustainability - ecological, economic, cultural, and social - to secure a responsible use of forest resources, develop cross-sectoral policies related to forests, ensure greater policy coherence, and aim at balancing trade-offs.
• Highlight that forest-related sciences research and traditional knowledge can provide a sound knowledge base that guides human activities and decision-making and achieves positive change.
• Recognise that cooperation, coordination, and communication within and between scientific disciplines and with diverse groups, including policymaking, business, and civil society, are key to providing actionable guidance to decision-makers.
• Emphasise the need to address threats to science and research cooperation, including loss of trust in academia, spreading misinformation, irresponsible use of technology, failure of multilateralism, and international conflicts.
• Realise the crucial roles of education, capacity building, youth engagement, and communication for expanded public awareness, sustainable production and consumption promotion, green job opportunities, and positive on-the-ground impacts.

The IUFRO Congress specifically urges decision makers, forest managers, and business representatives to take effective action by making best use of the knowledge, experience, and recommendations of the global science community to:

Strengthen forest resilience and climate adaptation by:

• Promoting cooperation between science, technology, management, and policy to deliver outcomes that can maintain or improve forest health.
• Engaging in policy processes with all parties involved across sectors to halt deforestation and biodiversity loss to achieve sustainable land management.
• Supporting sustainable and adaptive forest management, forest landscape restoration, and nature-based solutions to prevent or alleviate many of the adverse effects of climate change ensures forest-related ecosystem services.

Maintain and enhance the social values of forests for sustainable societies by:

• Supporting science-based policy development and efforts to raise public and consumer awareness of the role that forests, forest products, and forest ecosystem services play in society.
• Using knowledge and experience with governance systems and institutional arrangements to better support people’s livelihoods and quality of life equitably, including through empowerment of women, Indigenous Peoples, youth, and other marginalised groups.
• Promoting innovative urban forestry and other nature-based approaches to improve ecological functioning and enhance human well-being and resilience to climate change in the world’s fast-growing cities.

Expand the role of forests and forest products in a responsible circular bioeconomy that contributes to economic development, livelihoods, climate change mitigation and decarbonisation of economic activities by:

• Supporting science-based innovations along the forest-based value chain of products and services through sustainability-focused regulations, governance principles, industrial business models, and collaborative partnerships.
• Using social, economic and policy research to develop governance and financial frameworks that enable a just transition to sustainable natural resource management, more responsible producer and consumer behaviour, and business models that prioritise public benefits over private profits.

Transform forest-related sciences for the future by:

• Responsible use of innovative and emerging technologies, digitalisation, and artificial intelligence-supported tools in the forest sector based on a fuller understanding of their socio-economic and ethical implications.
• Supporting the development of modern teaching techniques, including virtual tools, to broaden the knowledge base and increase outreach, especially to rural, underrepresented and vulnerable groups.
• Diversifying and strengthening pathways in inclusive education and capacity-building at all levels to keep pace with rapid technological, societal, and environmental changes.