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Obama on global warming and forest protection Jeremy Hance mongabay.com December 10, 2009 In his speech Obama spoke briefly about why future peace depends on tackling climate change. "The world must come together to confront climate change," he said. "There is little scientific dispute that if we do nothing, we will face more drought, famine and mass displacement that will fuel more conflict for decades. For this reason, it is not merely scientists and activists who call for swift and forceful action – it is military leaders in my country and others who understand that our common security hangs in the balance," Obama said. Earlier in the day, after President Obama met with the Prime Minister of Norway, Jens Stoltenberg, the two leaders briefly met with the press where Obama argued that the United States have made big advances since his presidency began less than a year ago on the issue of climate change. "The United States has done a lot of work this year to transform the way we think about energy and our use back home, and to help to move international climate negotiations forward in an effective way." In a rare moment, Obama also spoke about the importance of protecting forests worldwide to combat global warming. "Prime Minister Stoltenberg and I also discussed how we can work together and with other countries to protect forests—something that he has personally championed and I’m very impressed with the model that has been built between Norway and Brazil that allows for effective monitoring and ensures that we are making progress in avoiding deforestation of the Amazon," Obama said according to Grist."And we all understand that it’s probably the most cost-effective way for us to address the issue of climate change—having an effective set of mechanisms in place to avoid further deforestation and hopefully to plant new trees." Next week Obama will address the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen where officials from 192 countries are attempting to create an international agreement to combat climate change. Related articles Obama administration about to declare carbon dioxide a danger to the public, allowing regulation (12/06/2009) The day before talks start in Copenhagen on a new international treaty to combat climate change, the Wall Street Journal reports that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States is set to declare carbon dioxide a 'public danger' as soon as Monday. The US will set emissions target, but is this a turning point for success at Copenhagen? (11/24/2009) Today may mark a turning point for a successful negotiation at the Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen or it may just be another blip in the up-and-down news cycles that have preceded the summit for months. Global warming will increase likelihood of civil war in Africa by 55 percent (11/23/2009) There have been many warnings by policymakers that rising temperatures in Africa could lead to civil conflict, however a new study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is the first to uncover empirical evidence for these warnings and quantify them. The results—that higher temperatures increased the likelihood of civil war in sub-Saharan Africa by over 50 percent—took aback even the researchers. UN singles out US as the most important nation for global warming negotiations (11/11/2009) Visiting Washington DC, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon stated that the United States was the world's most important actor when it comes to negotiations for a new climate change treaty, while urging the Senate to move forward on legislation. Obama slower than Bush in protecting America's endangered species (11/08/2009) In George W. Bush's eight years as president, he placed 62 species under the protection of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), an average of eight species per year. While, Bush's slow pace in protecting endangered species frustrated environmentalists in light of continued decline among many species, Obama is moving even slower. Group of distinguished ecologists ask Obama to help save rainforests (09/23/2009) A group of distinguished ecologists have asked President Obama to push for the inclusion of tropical forests in climate policy. Political heat rising on climate change, but does the United States feel it? (09/02/2009) The UN Summit on Climate Change isn’t for three months, yet the political temperature has been rising steadily over the summer. The heat is especially focused on the three big players at the summit: China, India, and the United States. Environmental disappointments under Obama (08/24/2009) While the President has been bogged down for the last couple months in an increasingly histrionic health-care debate-which has devolved so far into ridiculousness that one doesn't know whether to laugh or cry-environmental decisions, mostly from the President's appointees have still been coming fast and furious. However, while the administration started out pouring sunshine on the environment (after years of obfuscated drudgery under the Bush administration), they soon began to move away from truly progressive decisions on the environment and into the recognizable territory of playing it safe-and sometimes even stupid. Brazil's plan to save the Amazon rainforest 
(06/02/2009) Accounting for roughly half of tropical deforestation between 2000 and 2005, Brazil is the most important supply-side player when it comes to developing a climate framework that includes reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD). But Brazil's position on REDD contrasts with proposals put forth by other tropical forest countries, including the Coalition for Rainforest Nations, a negotiating block of 15 countries. Instead of advocating a market-based approach to REDD, where credits generated from forest conservation would be traded between countries, Brazil is calling for a giant fund financed with donations from industrialized nations. Contributors would not be eligible for carbon credits that could be used to meet emission reduction obligations under a binding climate treaty.
Tags: obama administration and the environment forests norway brazil united states global warming mitigation climate change climate change politics politics environment jeremy hance green bold and dangerous ideas that may save the world conservation conservation finance deforestation ecological services ecosystem services environmental economics environmental politics environmental heroes governance impact of climate change payments for ecosystem services payments for environmental services rainforest rainforest conservation rainforest destruction redd rainforests saving rainforests tropical forests Environmental news index | RSS | News Feed | Twitter | Home Advertisements:
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