11th March 2024

First Announcement

Global Legal and Sustainable Timber Forum, GLSTF 2024

11–12 September 2024

 MGM COTAI, Macao SAR, China

Background

Recent development shows that the timber industry needs to collaborate even more closely among stakeholders including timber producers, buyers, processing industry and market players nationally and internationally. It must address issues in global timber supply chains arising from the post-pandemic and other uncertainties and must bridge the widening gap between demand and supply for wood products. It is also essential to sustain and enhance collaboration and exchange views and information, among timber industry stakeholders worldwide with the aim to building a sustainable collaborative platform in promoting legal and sustainable timber supply chains.

The ITTO’s Legal and Sustainable Supply Chain (LSSC) Programme is aimed at building legal and sustainable supply chains. As part of the LSSC Program, ITTO and the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) are partners under a collaborative framework agreement to co-host the Global Legal and Sustainable Timber Forum (GLSTF), to accelerate the development of legal and sustainable timber supply chains.

The GLSTF inaugural forum 2023 was held on 21-22 November 2023 in Macao by the ITTO and Macao IPIM in collaboration with the Global Green Supply Chains Initiative (GGSC). The GLSTF 2023 was the first global forum under this partnership focused on measures to be considered to improve the legality and sustainability of tropical timber supply chains. This milestone event brought together nearly 700 participants from 36 countries. The GLSTF 2024 is scheduled in September 2024 in Macao, providing continuity on these efforts on an annual basis. 

Objective

The GLSTF 2024 aims to enhance networking, collaboration, and business exchange among timber industry stakeholders—producers, buyers, processors and market players to strengthen support for sustainable forest management, and the uptake of legal and sustainable wood product supply chains to facilitate the legal and sustainable use and trade of wood products in a stable, transparent and predictable business environment while contributing to sustainable development and climate-change mitigation.

Date & Venue

11‑12 September 2024 at the MGM COTAI, Macao SAR, China.

Co-hosts & Organizer

The GLSTF 2024 will be co-hosted by the ITTO and the Macao IPIM and organized by the Secretariat of the GGSC. Specialized sub-forums will be co-organized by partner agencies and the ITTO, the IPIM and the GGSC.

Forum Structure

The GLSTF 2024 will have two components:

1)      The Global Legal and Sustainable Timber Forum (main forum).

2)      Four Specialized Sub-forums (sub-forums).

Theme & Topics

The theme of the GLSTF 2024 will be “Together Towards Reliable and Effective Global Timber Supply Chains”.

The main forum will discuss topics related to reliable and stable timber resource supplies, trust and effectiveness along the timber supply chains and prospects for revitalizing global timber supply chains.

The specialized sub-forums will be organized by partner agencies, contributing to the theme, with selected topics on timber legality and sustainability; sustainable timber resources, markets and trade; advanced technology and machinery for wood processing; green finance and innovative facilitating measures.

Legal and Sustainable Timber Industry Display

A legal and sustainable timber industry display will be organized in parallel with the GLSTF 2024, at a scale of around 30 booths.

Other Events & Activities

The achievements of the Global Timber Index (GTI) and the Blockchain-based Timber Tracking System (BTTS) as well as others will be released at the GLSTF 2024. Other business activities and side events, such as B2B matchings, will be arranged accordingly.

Participants

The GLSTF 2024 is expected to attract around 700 participants from wood enterprises and trading companies, industrial and business associations, governments, international organizations, research institutions, etc.

Languages

The GLSTF 2024 will feature simultaneous interpretation in Chinese (Mandarin), English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

For more information, please contact us: 

ITTO Mr Li Qiang at li@itto.int; 

IPIM Mr Steve CHAN at pcel@ipim.gov.mo; 

or GGSC Secretariat Ms Gao Xuting at gaoxuting@itto-ggsc.org.

First_Announcement_for_GLSTF_2024.pdf