The northern summer of 2025 has arrived in full heat in Korea. During this season, Friends of Asia and Asian Forests (FAAF) will still be maintaining active communication with our partners. In this edition of the newsletter, we review our activities from March–June and share our plan.

We wish you continued health and vitality!

Sincerely,
AFoCO Secretariat

❗Tip❗ Click the 🔗 to read each news item in more detail 

▶ On May 13, in conjunction with the 12th Assembly, AFoCO held its Annual Thematic Dialogue in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia with the theme, Catalyzing AFoCO’s Potential through Private Investment and Multi-Partner Collaboration.

The event aimed to mark the transition of AFoCO’s role from project implementer to investment enabler by leveraging blended finance and the FAAF platform. Key agendas included AI wildfire technology by NOKIA Bell Labs, the Asian Development Bank’s Natural Capital Fund, and discussions on de-risking investments and mobilizing private capital, including family offices. 🔗

On June 17, Dr. Chongho Park, Executive Director of AFoCO, attended the Impact for Breakfast session in London to discuss investment in nature-based solutions (NbS) and blended finance implementation strategies. AFoCO highlighted the attractiveness and risk mitigation of forest-based projects as investment opportunities and emphasized the need to expand investable project pipelines in Asia. Moving forward, AFoCO will strengthen sustainable forest management and climate resilience by developing investor-ready pipelines based on public–private partnerships and integrating carbon finance and payments for ecosystem services.🔗 

▶ On April 14, AFoCO, T’way Air and the Forest Service of Kyrgyz Republic planted 1000 trees on 1 hectare near Manas International Airport in Bishkek and installed new irrigation systems to maintain previous plantings. 🔗

▶ On April 22, AFoCO, KT&G and Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources signed an MoU in Almaty to restore approximately 100 hectares of wildfire-affected forest in the Semey region from 2025 to 2027. 🔗

▶ On April 23, AFoCO held the first-ever Carbon Removal Unit Incentive Payment Ceremony as part of the ACORN agroforestry carbon project in Kyrgyzstan. 🔗

▶ On April 24, Dr. Chongho Park presented forest restoration strategies emphasizing the importance of forests at the Global Mountain Dialogue in Kyrgyzstan. 🔗

▶ On April 28, AFoCO strengthened partnerships through high-level diplomatic engagement with the Tajikistan Forest Agency, discussing cooperation areas, such as riparian forest restoration, fuelwood forests and agroforestry. 🔗

▶ On May 9, AFoCO participated in the 20th UN Forum on Forests in New York, presenting projects and co-hosting a high-level side event, Scaling Up Integrated Landscape Approaches: Partnerships, Policies and Finance. 🔗

▶ On May 23, AFoCO showcased, The Spring Grove, a 237m2 thematic garden featuring representative plants from AFoCO’s 17 Member Countries at the 2025 Seoul International Garden Show in Boramae Park. 🔗

▶ On May 26, AFoCO signed an MoU with Save the Children Korea to jointly implement programs on disaster risk reduction, climate adaptation and environmental sustainability. 🔗

▶ On June 9, AFoCO launched the Science and Technology Exchange Partnership (STEP) and Keep Eternally Your Seeds (KEYS) programs at the 11th International Congress on Education in Botanic Gardens, which was held in Korea, aiming to enhance arboretum education and seed conservation capabilities. 🔗

▶ On May 28, Lao PDR adopted a Carbon Credit Decree to establish legal principles and regulations for carbon market governance, project approval, registration and maximizing carbon revenue. 🔗

▶ On May 31, the International High-Level Conference on Glaciers Preservation, held in Tajikistan, adopted the Dushanbe Glaciers Declaration calling for global cooperation on glacier protection through integrated climate mitigation and resilience strategies. 🔗

▶ On June 20, the Government of Mongolia and UNDP launched a project supported by the Green Climate Fund to build an inclusive and transparent carbon market. 🔗

▶ On July 3, it was reported by Vietnam.vn that Viet Nam holds great potential for forest carbon credits and ecotourism but faces unclear roles and legal frameworks in forest carbon project development and credit issuance.  🔗

▶ On April 29, the European Space Agency’s biomass satellite was launched, equipped with the world’s first P-band synthetic aperture radar, which is capable of penetrating forest canopies to measure biomass, thereby helping to improve forest carbon stock estimates.  🔗 

▶ On May 22, the EU announced that under the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), for products made from beef, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soy and wood to enter the EU market from December 30, 2025, they must be legally produced without deforestation and accompanied by a Due Diligence Statement. 🔗🔗

▶ On May 29, the 2025 State of the Voluntary Carbon Market report by Ecosystem Marketplace noted a transition toward higher quality and integrity, with carbon removal credits commanding prices 381% higher than emission reduction credits. 🔗

▶ On June 3, the World Resources Institute reported that every US$1 invested in climate adaptation and resilience yields more than US$10 in economic, social and environmental benefits over 10 years.  🔗

▶ On June 10, at the UN Ocean Conference, Brazil endorsed the Mangrove Breakthrough initiative to mobilize US$4 billion for protecting and restoring 15 million hectares of mangroves by 2030, launching the Mangrove Finance Facility to accelerate long-term investments. 🔗

▶ On June 24, CarbonCredits.com reported that Singapore and Japan introduced new regulations ensuring transparency and environmental integrity in carbon credits. 🔗

▶ On June 25, the Green Climate Fund signed an Accreditation Master Agreement with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, enabling the Bank to access concessional funds* from the Fund for climate-resilient infrastructure projects. 🔗

* Concessional funds: Funds provided on terms more favorable than market loans, with the aim of promoting economic development and improving welfare in developing countries.

▶ On June 26, at the 62nd session of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies in Bonn, Germany, parties agreed to increase the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s budget by 10%, with China increasing its contribution from 15% to 20%. 🔗

▶ On June 27, Reuters reported that with uncertainties around New York Climate Week owing to US policy rollbacks and entry restrictions, London Climate Action Week 2025 more than doubled in size from the previous year, with plans to stimulate carbon credit purchases. 🔗