The New York Declaration on Forests (NYDF), endorsed at the United Nations Climate Summit in September 2014, is a voluntary political declaration with over 200 endorsers - including countries, subnational governments, companies, indigenous groups, and NGOs - with ambitious targets to end forest loss.

Climate Focus coordinates the NYDF Assessment Partners – a network of civil society and research groups mandated with tracking progress toward the ten goals of the NYDF until 2020.  Together, the partners annually conduct the NYDF Progress Assessment, the most comprehensive tracking and assessment initiative for global forest pledges. Ongoing monitoring efforts, engagement, and visibility of the NYDF Progress Assessment will enable stakeholders to hold endorsers accountable to their commitments and to ensure that interest in achieving the NYDF goals and other 2030 forest targets is maintained. The objective of the NYDF Progress Assessment is to make a contribution towards achieving the ten goals set out in the NYDF and creates an information platform that tracks their progress, and implements a series of activities that encourages ambition and momentum around actions to achieve its targets. 

The NYDF Assessment has published the following flagship reports since its inception:

• In 2015, the first edition of the NYDF Progress Assessment proposed a framework and respective indicators for measuring progress toward all ten goals and offered an initial assessment on the status of progress toward their achievement.
• In 2016, the second edition of the report focused on Goal 2, eliminating deforestation from agricultural commodity supply chains. 
• The third edition of the report, released in October 2017, provides a deep analysis of Goals 8 and 9 of the NYDF - looking at the financial support provided to forest emission reduction strategies (Goal 8), and rewards for action (Goal 9). 
• The fourth edition of the NYDF Progress Assessment was launched in November 2018 focusing on forest governance, the rule of law, and the empowerment of communities and indigenous peoples (Goal 10). 

• The fifth edition of the NYDF Progress Assessment was released in 2019, taking stock of overall progress on the fifth anniversary of the launch of the NYDF. The in-depth report highlights progress toward stopping deforestation (Goal 1) and implementing restoration (Goal 5), while tracking the development of all ten goals to present an overall picture of progress.

• In November 2020, the sixth edition was released. Focusing on reducing deforestation from extractive industries and infrastructure (Goal 3) and supporting alternatives to deforestation driven by basic needs (Goal 4), the report delivers a stark picture of the threat facing tropical forests from top-down development planning. Vast transnational economic corridors combining highways, railways, ports, and natural resource extraction are planned and under development across many tropical forest regions. Importantly, these projects are rarely designed to benefit local communities.

• The seventh edition was published in October 2021, examining government efforts to realize the potential of forests for climate change mitigation (Goal 7). The report included a suite of recommendations for governments to employ multiple strategies that work complementarily are required to protect, restore and sustainably manage forests.

Results are published and made publicly available via annual reports and on  forestdeclaration.org.

The NYDF Assessment Partners also work with the NYDF Global Platform, launched in November 2017. The Assessment Partners collaborate with the Platform to not only provide insight on progress toward the achievement of the NYDF, but also to fill essential data gaps. The existing and future work of the NYDF Assessment Partners guides the Platform in the development of targeted strategies that may serve as the basis for informed discussions with endorsers, and be further shaped through such consultations. This monitoring capacity is integrated into the Platform in a manner that will maintain appropriate independence and objectivity, while ensuring that the focus of the assessment and the results can be effectively taken on board through the work of the Platform Secretariat and partners.

For developments related to the NYDF Progress Assessment, the NYDF Assessment Partners, or other forest-related news, research and events, follow us on Twitter: @NYDFAssessment. If you have any specific questions related to the project, or are interested in having NYDF Assessment Partner participation at an event, please contact the e.matson [at] climatefocus.com (subject: NYDF%20Assessment%20Partner%20coordination) (NYDF Assessment Partner coordinator).