From the U.S. Capitol to the industrial cities of China, much of the international climate change debate centers on how to minimize greenhouse gas emissions from coal-burning factories and gas-guzzling cars. While these are undoubtedly issues of crucial importance, CI is primarily focused on another equally important yet less-well-known emitter: deforestation.
Every year, carbon released through the burning and clearing of tropical forests adds more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than all the world’s cars, trains, ships and planes; therefore, any successful mitigation plan must include conservation of standing forests. As Manuel Oliva, Director of U.S. Policy at Conservation International puts it, “The math doesn’t add up without forests.”
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Working with the national governments of their home countries, CI’s climate policy team aims to promote forest conservation and other ecosystem-based climate change mitigation and adaptation measures by supporting the inclusion of ecosystem protection in regional, national and international climate policy.
Creating a Meaningful Standard
In order for forests to truly benefit the global community, they must do more than just store carbon: efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation also need to conserve local biodiversity and promote sustainable community development through the equal sharing of benefits.
To meet this need, CI and partners have developed the Climate, Community and Biodiversity (CCB) Standards, a framework designed to assess the benefits of REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation “plus” conservation) and other forest carbon programs. CCB Standards measure progress in maintaining biodiversity and contributing to community well-being while respecting the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, and foster the integration of best-practices and multiple-benefit approaches into project design.
The Climate Community and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA), which produced the CCB Standards, is also facilitating the development of a new set of global social and environmental standards for REDD+ that will provide countries with a way of demonstrating the social and environmental benefits of their REDD+ programs to both their own citizens and the wider international community while providing safeguards against the potential negative impacts.
The Role of Governments
Providing incentives for REDD+ requires the dedication of both developing and developed governments. For example, as an important outcome of December’s climate change conference in Copenhagen, developed countries (including the United States) pledged to commit $3.5 billion as a “quick start” fund for REDD+ over the next three years.
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In the United States, policymakers are now considering how this funding will be spent. Earlier this month, staff of the U.S. Congress and Administration met with the leading environmental and conservation organizations, as well as leading U.S businesses, to discuss the best ways for these funds to be allocated. Oliva joined these policy experts to contribute CI’s extensive real-world experience to the discussion. “The meeting was a great example of the leading voices in this area working collaboratively to ensure that the U.S. quick-start money serves as an investment in meaningful long term forest protection and climate change mitigation.”
But how can developing governments take advantage of this funding and move forward with REDD+ in action?
In order for forests to truly benefit the global community, they must do more than just store carbon: efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation also need to conserve local biodiversity and promote sustainable community development through the equal sharing of benefits.
Rewarding Low-Carbon Countries
Several national governments have taken the lead in the discussion around creating international and national policies that would contribute to REDD+. Germany and Norway have made impressive pledges to finance forest protection in tropical countries; Costa Rica, Liberia, Guyana and Suriname are immersed in various stages of planning new green development strategies which include forest carbon. Even Madagascar, despite recent political turmoil, has made forest protection a national priority. In order to motivate these countries to continue their efforts–and encourage others to join in–the international community must find ways to encourage growth in this work.
Costa Rica serves as a great example of how money from developed countries can make a difference in a developing a national green economy and helping to avert global climate change. The United States has worked in partnership with Costa Rica since the 1970s to help create a practical model which proves that, working together, the global community can create successful low-carbon national programs.
The level of commitment that national governments show in the fight against climate change will determine how successful we are at mitigating this global threat. Developing and developed countries need to work together to take action immediately and to create long-term sustainable systems in order to protect our planet–and forests–from dire consequences.
CI and our partners are ready and able to help governments take the right steps.
LEARN MORE: The role of forests in fighting climate change.