The 60th session of the International Tropical Timber Council (ITTC-60) in Yokohama, Japan, this week closed on a positive note, with decisions advancing preparations for renegotiation of the International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA) and confirming the team through the extension of the executive director’s term.
Members reaffirmed the central role of sustainable tropical timber trade in meeting global environmental and development objectives by formalising its programmatic approach to projects.
Yet, despite high global funding levels for forests, clarity on how these ambitions will be financed remains limited. After years of contentious ITCC meetings, participants were happy to “take a breath,” with chair Anna Tyler celebrating that members appear to be “pulling in the same direction.”
As part of preparations for the ITTA renegotiation, the council extended the Preparatory Working Group (PWG) mandate until ITTC-61, asking it to work with consultants to finalise the identification of elements to be considered in future negotiations.
The PWG was given detailed instructions on what to look at and what inputs to provide for members to use in their national preparations for the negotiations. It was instructed to report back to ITTC-61 with deliverables. Perhaps just as importantly, the until-now leaderless PWG was provided two co-chairs to guide its work, with the US representing consumers and Panama representing producers.
The council also extended the term of executive director Sheam Satkuru until January 31, 2028, to ensure organisational continuity during the ramp-up of the negotiations. A long list of embers praised her leadership as the ITTO heads toward the ITTA renegotiation. Many echoed a sentiment voiced by Ghana, who declared, “When you have a winning team, why change it?”
The council also embraced implementing a new financing architecture to attract more funding for ITTO projects and thematic activities. The new system will run parallel to the regular project cycle mandated by the ITTA until funding questions are dealt with under the ITTA renegotiation.
Members appeared energised by ITTO’s recent accreditation with the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the executive director’s efforts to secure cooperation and collaboration agreements with diverse agencies, multilateral and regional organisations and development banks. During the week, they offered ideas and support for raising ITTO’s profile, including in forums such as the G7 and G20. However, a great deal of work must be done before any of these efforts can bear fruit.
The council’s annual market discussion and its examination of the preliminary findings of the Biennial World Timber Situation report also reminded participants that the ITTO has forged a role in assisting the industry, trade, and governments involved in tropical timber to green supply chains in the era of transparency, traceability, legality, and certification. By week’s end, many members expressed hope that ITTC-60 had laid the foundation for a better future for the organisation.
There is a structure for the PWG to advance renegotiation preparations, and the secretariat is driven to diversify ITTO financing. Incoming ITTC-61 chair (and former ITTO fellow) Carlos Espinosa Peña (Panama) looked toward making the 2025 session just as fruitful.
ITTC-60 was attended by 103 delegates from 40 member governments and the EU, as well as about 60 observers from intergovernmental organisations, technical agencies, certification bodies, civil society, the private sector, and academia.
[The International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) was established in 1986 to address the importance of tropical timber and related trade to producer countries and concerns about the sustainable management of the world’s tropical forests. While it was negotiated as a commodity agreement to promote the expansion and diversification of international trade and the improvement of structural conditions in the tropical timber market, it differed from other commodity agreements by focusing on both the utilisation and conservation of tropical forests].
