| by Neil Marks in ArgentinaRepresentatives of 160 countries meeting in Buenos Aires for the World Forestry Congress have called on negotiators of a new global climate change deal to include a mechanism to reward countries that keep standing forests.The call from the Congress came as countries which face the greatest loss of forest – Brazil and Indonesia – once more highlighted their plight and underscored the important role of forests. Top representatives of the two countries say forests are not only important to prevent further climate change,Air Max 90 Sale Nederland, but also the livelihoods of the people of the forests, as well as the plant and animal life that depend on the forest.At the Congress, Norway pledged to continue making large contributions to help countries prepare to benefit from a mechanism to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation, or what is called REDD.This message was delivered to the Congress by Trond Gabrielsem, a representative of the Norwegian Government.A REDD mechanism is likely to be decided upon in Copenhagen when the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC,Nike Air Max Cheap Wholesale, meet from December 7 to December 12, 2009. Under REDD, rich countries,cheap nfl jerseys sale, whose industries are blamed for emitting harmful greenhouse gases that destroy the environment, agree to pay poor countries which have kept their forests intact and therefore store harmful gases, such as carbon dioxide. The money can be paid over through bilateral schemes between governments or through a carbon trading system.In a statement, the Congress said that it supports a REDD mechanism,Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys, including enhanced incentives for conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of carbon stocks in developing countries.Forests are more than carbon, the Congress noted. Rather, they harbour two-thirds of all land based biodiversity and generate critical ecosystem goods and services such as water, food and more than 5,000 commercial forest products.Tiina Vahenen, a senior officer at the United Nations REDD Secretariat, pointed out that the earth´s four billion hectares of forest store 633 billion gigatons of carbon. This means that forests store more carbon than the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Forests absorb carbon dioxide, one of the harmful greenhouse gases that cause global climate change.However, if they are cut down,Arsenal Fc Shop Sale, then that carbon goes into the atmosphere, creating further problems for the environment.Vahenen said that 13 million hectares of forests are lost every year, sending an estimated 17.4 percent of all greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Putting that into perspective, she said that is the total amount of carbon that is released by the United States or China,cheap nfl jerseys china, or still yet, the total amount of carbon emitted by the transport sector. She said a REDD mechanism would recognise the role of forests in preventing further climate change, and called on countries to make their voices heard at Copenhagen.Can REDD work? Vahenen says ‘yes’.¨REDD is a big economic development and environment opportunity and we cannot afford to lose the opportunity, ¨she told the Forestry Congress.Vahenen quoted research which shows that carbon trading moved from US$11 billion in 2005 to a whopping $125 billion in 2008.Thais Linhares Jevanal, the director of the Brazilian Forest Agency indicated that if a REDD mechanism comes in place the money will have to come good.She said the opportunity costs of saving the rainforest are high and therefore any REDD scheme will have to adequately make up. Even so, Brazil is in a desperate race against time to save the Amazon rainforest, which has been prone to illegal logging and heavy deforestation.Therefore, a REDD mechanism is needed on both fronts.The only thing that can make the forest sustainable is giving forests the value forests have, she said.Indonesia faces a similar crisis. Forty percent of the forests existing in 1950 were cleared in the following 50 years. In round numbers, forest cover fell from 162 million hectares to 98 million hectares, according to Global Forest Watch.Retno Maryano of Indonesia´s Centre for Social and Economic Research on Forest Management said that the potential for financial input under REDD is huge, and said whatever funds come under REDD will have to compensate for the money that will be forgone in protecting the forests. |
