Quo vadis global forest governance? A transdisciplinary delphi study

•Deforestation and forest degradation remain the most prominent challenges in global forest governance.•In a multipolar world, issue specific coalitions across world regions are critical for global forest governance.•Governance initiatives connecting to “high politics” such as trade are promising for global forest governance.•Both investment and informal markets are not sufficiently accounted for in global forest governance.•New information technologies can increase transparency in global forest governance.