FAO/FLEGT Global 2015-2021 FAO/FLEGT Global 2015-2021 Det föreslagna programmet har som målsättning att uppnå en god styrning av skogsbruket i utvecklingsländer samt att främja legal handel med skogsprodukter. Detta förväntas även på lång sikt bidra till en hållbar skogsanvändning och fattigdomsbekämpning.  FAO FLEGT är ett stödprogram till EU FLEGT, för att bygga kunskap och kapacitet på policy- såväl som på företags- och samhällsnivå för att länder ska kunna ingå i ”voluntary partnership agreements” (VPA) förhandlingar och/eller för att kunna förbereda och verkställa initiativ för hållbart skogsbruk utanför VPA ramverket. Det är en utveckling av tidigare fas av samma program men med ett större fokus på små och medium-stora företag och deras möjlighet att påverka och delta i förhandlingar om skogslagstiftning och legal handel. Sidas bedömning är att insatsen har potential till att bidra till ett mer hållbart skogsbruk (miljömässigt, socialt och ekonomiskt) och till att de potentiella fördelarna med legal handel av timmer och handelsavtal för ett hållbart skogsbruk även gagnar småbrukare och har potential att hjälpa människor ur fattigdom.

Programmets totala budget är 45,000,000 USD (ca 332,300,000 SEK) av vilket FAO själv kommer att bidra med 10% av Sidas och ECs bidrag. EC har initialt gått in med 13,000,000 EUR men förväntas öka sitt bidrag i takt med att programmet implementeras. Cirka hälften av budgeten kommer att vidareförmedlas i form av grants genom en direkt stöd mekanism och  årliga ”call for proposals” i de aktuella länderna (15 VPA länder och 10 icke-VPA länder). 

Initiativet styrs och genomförs av FAO som har stor teknisk kunskap i området samt lång erfarenhet av liknande initiativ till exempel National Forest Program Facility (NFP) och Forest and Farm Facility (FFF). Sida stödjer redan FFF initiativet med ett kärnstöd över fem år och FLEGT Facility regionalt (Asien). Det finns goda möjligheter till synergier mellan de tre programmen och Sida, i sin roll som betydande givare till båda, har möjligheten att bidra till utvecklingen mot ett globalt hållbart skogsbruk. The FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade) initiative   aims to exclude illegal timber from the markets, to improve the       supply of legal timber and to increase the demand for responsible     wood products. The initiative will lead to a positive impact,         economic as well as social, in the areas of intervention. The FAO-European Union Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) programme was a global demand-driven small grants mechanism funded in a Multi-donor trust fund by the European Union, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). Sida contributed a total of SEK 75 million during the third phase of the programme, spanning from 2015 to 2021.

The programme was designed to provide technical support and resources for activities to further the goals of the European Unions FLEGT Action Plan, helping tropical timber-producing countries to establish and implement measures to tackle illegal logging, promoting trade in legal timber products and, ultimately, contributing to sustainable forest management (SFM) and poverty reduction. The programme delivered results towards five Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); #1 Life on land, #2 Zero Hunger, #10 Reduced Inequalities, #12 Responsible Consumption and Production and #15 Life on land. 

FAO provided support to the negotiation and implementation of voluntary partnership agreements (VPAs), bilateral trade agreements on legal timber trade between tropical timberproducing countries and the European Union. In countries not engaged in a formal VPA process, the programme supported measures to improve law enforcement, timber legality assurance and overall forest sector governance. The programme funded projects created by governments, civil society and private sector organizations in Latin America, Africa and Asia to improve forest governance and promote trade in legal timber products on domestic and international markets. The programme endorsed 375 projects in 27 countries and had a total budget of USD 50 584 350. The greatest investment was made in VPA countries, representing 73 percent of the budget, while 18 percent of the budget was invested in other tropical timber-producing countries, with the remainder supporting global and regional work.

Specifically, the programme pursued six primary outcomes:

Outcome 1: VPAs contribute to improved forest sector governance and timber legality on domestic and international markets.

Outcome 2: Initiatives that support legal production and consumption of timber and better forest sector governance in countries that are not engaged in the VPA process are strengthened.

Outcome 3: The capacity of the private sector to participate in the production, marketing and trade of legal timber has increased.

Outcome 4: Stakeholders in both consumer and producer countries demonstrate an improved knowledge of benefits from legal logging, international trade requirements and of best practices for FLEGT

Outcome 5: The progress, achievements and impacts of the FLEGT Action Plan are better understood and information is made available through an updated, robust and user-friendly information system.

Outcome 6: Increased technical and institutional capacities of service providers

The contribution has spun over several strategies and their goals. Ultimately, it contributed mainly to the following strategy goals in the Strategy for Swedens global development cooperation on sustainable economic development 20222026: 

Strategy goal 4 (SG4): Improved conditions for sustainable and inclusive international trade

Strategy goal 5 (SG5): Improved conditions for food security, sustainable food systems, increased productivity and sustainability in agriculture, forestry and fishing, and strengthened ownership and tenure rights to land and natural resources

Strategy goal 3 (SG3): Improved conditions for sustainable and inclusive market and private sector development, and sustainable business

The programme has generated results on all results channels that the unit for global sustainable economic development work with; global and normative changes [GLOB/NORM], national and institutional changes [NAT/INST] and changes for the target group [ACT/TARGET].