Rich nation’s reluctance could sink targets for stopping deforestation, assuring local participation
COPENHAGEN (December 11, 2009) – A much-hoped-for agreement to protect natural forests – and halt the 15 percent of carbon emissions that come from deforestation - is showing signs of unravelling mid way through the U.N. Climate Change Conference, CARE lamented Friday. And negotiations will have to change course if there is to be a happy ending for REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) provisions of a global treaty and the millions of poor people whose livelihoods hang in the balance.
‘The news leaking out from behind closed doors is disturbing,’ said Raja Jarrrah, CARE International’s lead advisor on REDD. Most alarming is word that the draft text will no longer contain any target for halting deforestation – neither a percentage reduction, nor a date for achieving it.
‘How can anyone take REDD as a serious response to climate change if it does not promise to contribute its share of emissions reductions?’ Asked Jarrah. Developed nations are still reluctant to make commitments on long-term finance for climate change, he said. ‘So forest nations are rightly asking how they can be expected to finance their development and preserve their forests at the same time. It is vital that the world halts deforestation, and to achieve this we need a commitment of funds from the rich countries that created the climate crisis in the first place.’
In some countries, such as Brazil, deforestation can account for up to 80 percent of emissions. And 300 million people worldwide, most of them very poor, depend directly on the forest for their livelihoods. Indirectly, the figure eclipses 1 billion.
‘Controlling deforestation will not be effective if people do not have a say in how forests are protected, and without this forest conservation efforts are likely to exacerbate poverty and inequality’, Jarrah said - yet he is hearing that some delegations are trying to water down clauses protecting the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities. That is a big concern to CARE and its partners in the Accra Caucus, a network of over fifty southern civil society organisations campaigning on forests and climate change.
‘No programme to protect forests will be effective if it does not respect the rights of the people who depend on it; their rights to land, to participation, and to sharing the benefits,’ said Samuel Nnah of the Centre for Environment and Development in Cameroon.
Compromises are a natural part of any negotiation. But according to CARE and the Accra Caucus the process is threatening the foundation of a sustainable REDD mechanism. ‘If a REDD agreement has no target for ending deforestation, no commitment of resources to achieving this, and no protection for the rights of people, we might as well not have it at all,’ said Jarrah. ‘We wait and see what the final text for a REDD agreement will look like. But we are wary that it will be dressed up to look good and disguise lack of progress.’
For further information or interviews, please contact CARE Media Coordinators:
Marie Sisse Brown: +45 53 72 72 40, [email protected]
Sandra Bulling: + 45 53 11 26 44, [email protected]
CARE is a leading aid organisation with more than 60 years’ experience fighting global poverty and delivering emergency assistance. In 72 countries, CARE works with the poorest communities to improve basic health and education, enhance rural livelihoods and food security, increase access to clean water and sanitation, and expand economic opportunity. Our long-term development assistance and emergency relief initiatives are currently benefiting about 55 million people around the world. In response to the growing crisis, CARE is helping the most world’s most vulnerable communities adapt to the impacts of climate change.