Building partnerships and driving funding to protect nature

 

Conservation International protects nature for the well-being of humanity. Conservation International-Europe supports this mission through a combination of government partnerships, policy advocacy and industry engagement.

In partnership with committed national governments — including France, Germany, Norway and Sweden—and the European Union, Conservation International-Europe drives funding to protect and restore tropical forests around the world, increase protection and improve management of oceans, and produce and apply science-based evidence to promote nature-based development.

We work with European decision-makers to integrate nature-based solutions in national and international policies and support “green” economic stimulus packages. We help lawmakers design policies that address deforestation and ecosystem degradation, while connecting with international negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity.

And we collaborate with industry leaders in key commodity sectors — such as coffee and palm oil production — to establish sustainable supply chains that do not contribute to deforestation.

 

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© Benjamin Drummond

A 'package deal' for climate and nature

Recent U.N. climate talks in Dubai saw a new effort to promote investment in an often overlooked — and underfunded — climate solution: nature. The initiative, called “Country Packages for Forests, Nature and Climate,” aims to help countries protect forests, biodiversity and climate at the same time.

“In a nutshell, a ‘Country Package’ is pooled funding from governments, private donors and others to help developing countries with high levels of carbon and biodiversity meet their nature and climate commitments,” said Herbert Lust, senior vice president of Conservation International-Europe.

To jumpstart the initiative, Conservation International partnered with the government of France, the Rob Walton Foundation and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, to launch a “Seed Fund” to provide early support and galvanize larger public and private investment. For each Country Package, the Seed Fund intends to start by providing up to about $8 million to an initial four countries — including Ghana, the Republic of Congo and Papua New Guinea — that are home to a wealth of ecosystems and biodiversity.

 

Where we work in Europe

 

News from Europe

EU bid to halt imported deforestation ‘moot without investment’

© Luana Luna

In a communication released today, the European Union has proposed steps it will take to promote global reforestation efforts and end deforestation related to EU imports of agricultural commodities.

“Imported deforestation” is the environmental footprint of products consumed by one group (in this case, Europeans) but produced elsewhere. It is relatively invisible to European consumers — and spectacularly destructive to the planet.

Between 1990 and 2008, Europe was the top importer of deforestation around the world, resulting in an expanse of forest the size of Portugal getting cut down. Deforestation is responsible for 11 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, half of which are the result of internationally traded agriculture products. In the Cerrado region of Brazil, for example, annual emissions from deforestation for soy production are greater than the EU’s entire remaining emissions gap for its 2030 target — meaning helping to halt deforestation from soy production would be enough to meet Europe’s full target for the Paris Agreement.

While the role of deforestation in climate change is clear, it is often overlooked in international deliberations in favor of clean-energy policies. Yet stopping deforestation and restoring degraded lands can deliver at least 30 percent of the required emissions reductions needed to reach the targets of the Paris Agreement, while improving food security and the well-being of developing countries.

In a statement congratulating the European Commission for “taking this important step to address the footprint of EU consumption on forests,” Conservation International Europe Vice President Herbert Lust clarified that while “this legislation represents the kind of bold global leadership that Europe excels in … it is moot without investment.”

To meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, Lust said, the European Commission needs to look at funding actions that preserve forests and counter deforestation, including funding reforestation efforts and investing in community conservation projects.

In addition, he said, they must invest in funds for indigenous peoples — stewards who manage 25 percent of the world’s above-ground carbon in tropical forests and who are essential to protecting them.

The latest communication isn’t the first time the EU has taken steps to curb deforestation: On the sidelines of the Paris negotiations in 2015, Germany, France, the Netherlands, the UK and Denmark (later joined by Norway and Italy) signed the Amsterdam Declaration, restating their commitment to eliminate deforestation from agricultural commodity supply chains by 2020. In 2017, the European Parliament passed a resolution aiming to limit the import of palm oil that has caused deforestation. The Parliament also called for new sustainability criteria for palm oil entering the European market.

Read Herbert’s full statement here.

Sophie Bertazzo is a senior editor at Conservation International.

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