At the start of this year’s UN Forum on Forests, the United Nations will launch the Global Forest Goals Report 2026, the latest global assessment of progress towards the six Global Forest Goals and 26 targets of the United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests 2017–2030.

 With less than five years remaining to 2030, the report provides current evidence on progress, gaps and the urgent need to scale up action to halt deforestation, restore degraded lands and advance sustainable forest management. It underscores the critical role of forests in supporting climate stability, biodiversity, the livelihoods of over a billion people and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Drawing on voluntary national reports and the latest forest-related global data, the report also identifies key gaps in finance, governance and data and sets out policy recommendations to accelerate action in the final years leading to 2030.

Thirteen individuals, including senior officials in Ethiopia’s petroleum sector, have been charged with corruption offenses tied to what prosecutors describe as a coordinated fuel diversion scheme that allegedly contributed to recent fuel shortages across the country.

The charges were filed before the Federal High Court Lideta Branch, 3rd Anti-Corruption Criminal Bench.

Among those charged are Esmealem Mihretu, CEO of the Ethiopian Petroleum Supply Enterprise (EPSE), Dibara Fufa, Deputy Director of the Petroleum Sector at the Ethiopian Petroleum and Energy Authority, and Shum-Alem Berhane, Director General of EPSE, alongside other officials and private sector actors.

Prosecutors allege that the defendants diverted more than 70 million birr worth of gasoline and white diesel outside government oversight, exacerbating fuel shortages in the domestic market.

The charge sheet outlines four separate counts involving alleged abuse of power, illegal fuel distribution, and collusion between state officials and private operators.