Rainforest countries form alliance to push global warming solutions
Rainforest countries form pact to push global warming solutions
mongabay.com
September 13, 2007
Eight tropical countries containing 80 percent of the world’s remaining tropical forest cover have formed an alliance to have forest conservation included in a post-Kyoto agreement on climate change, reports the Financial Times. The “Forestry Eight”, as the group is called, includes Brazil, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Gabon, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Congo and Indonesia.
The group will convene for the first time at a UN climate meeting in New York on September 24 while formal negotiations on the next global framework will begin at a UN conference in Bali in December.
In forming the alliance, tropical countries have thrown considerable support behind the concept of “avoided deforestation”, whereby forested countries earn carbon credits for protecting forests that lock up large amounts of carbon. Deforestation is a major source of greenhouse gases, accounting for roughly 20 percent of global emissions. Steps to reduce forest clearing and degradation will help mitigate climate change.
 Tropical deforestation rates from 2000-2005, ranked in descending order by the highest amount of average annual forest loss for 25 countries based on data from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Image by Rhett A. Butler, click to enlarge. |
As such, it is key that any agreement on “avoided deforestation” include Indonesia and Brazil, the countries that have the highest annual forest loss and are the world’s third and fourth largest emitters of greenhouse gases as a result of this clearing. Indonesia is a particularly important participant in any climate deal since degradation and destruction of its carbon-rich peatlands is estimated to release 2 billion tons of carbon (7.5 billion tones of carbon dioxide) annually. Involving countries with extensive forest cover but low deforestation rates (Papua New Guinea, Gabon, and Congo) is also significant. Without financial incentives to protect their forests, these countries could otherwise become targets for forest clearing.
Overall the avoided deforestation market could be substantial — on the order of tens of billions of dollars per year. Gains would extend beyond helping fighting climate change — avoided deforestation offers the potential to simultaneously conserve biodiversity, alleviate rural poverty, protect important ecosystem services, and reduce the risk of forest fires in the tropics.
Under the existing Kyoto agreement, only reforestation and afforestation are eligible for carbon credits — forest protection is specifically excluded from receiving carbon credits.
The “Forestry Eight” follows the “Coalition of Rainforest Nations” which formed in 2005 at climate talks in Montreal and was led by Papua New Guinea and Costa Rica.
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