The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was established in March 1994. It sets an overall structure for international efforts to tackle the challenges posed by climate change, and has since been ratified by 192 countries worldwide. Under the Convention, governments gather and share information and national policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change.

The 13th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP13) in Bali in December 2007 produced the Bali Action Plan, a process for negotiating a global climate strategy to succeed the Kyoto Protocol. The Bali Action Plan prescribed two years of consultation, demonstration and preparation before countries are expected to agree on final details at COP15 in Copenhagen, in December 2009.

The Bali Action Plan recognises the importance of conserving forests in order to effectively address climate change, something that was largely ignored in the Kyoto Protocol. Not only does deforestation and forest degradation account for around 20% of all global carbon emissions, forests also absorb large amounts of carbon already released into the atmosphere.

Forest Day 3 will build on the success of Forest Day 1 and 2, which helped to place forests high on the global agenda for climate change. It will bring together stakeholders from the forest and climate change communities to look beyond Copenhagen, at the issues related to implementation of the Copenhagen outcomes, and to inform the process of further refining and defining the modalities of these outcomes.