Bianca Jagger adds her voice to rainforest hopes in Copenhagen

Bianca Jagger Says UNFCCC REDD Agreement Must Contain a Legally Binding Framework to Protect Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Local Communities and Forests.

Copenhagen, REDD, the proposed United Nations agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by halting deforestation, must protect the rights of indigenous peoples, local communities, and natural forests, said human rights advocate Bianca Jagger today while attending the climate change negotiations in Copenhagen.

"An agreement to prevent deforestation was improbable a couple of years ago, but today governments in the developed world have woken up to the notion that to prevent catastrophic climate change we must protect our remaining forests," said Bianca Jagger, Chair of the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation. "REDD will never succeed and cannot be implemented unless the agreement contains strong provisions to ensure good governance, protect natural forests and ensure that the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities are protected. They must be at the centre of the REDD agreement and included in the negotiations."

Last week, however, critical safeguards to protect indigenous peoples rights, natural forests, and provisions to ensure transparent and effective forest governance, were moved from the legally-binding text into the preamble. This means the safeguards have no legal force and will not be acted on unless there is language in the legally-binding part of the agreement to direct governments to act. The agreement contains some weak language at the moment and even this is in jeopardy of being deleted since several governments are opposing it. If this happens there will be no protection for rights of indigenous peoples, no protection of forests and no action on governance.

"Emissions from deforestation account for approximately 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, so we need an effective REDD agreement to avoid climate chaos," said Jagger. "The agreement should be based on a legal framework that will ensure that good governance, the forests, and the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities are protected. Those provisions are in jeopardy at the moment. I appeal to those governments who understand the importance of an effective REDD agreement to speak up and stand up for the principles that will make this landmark agreement be successful.

REDD funds are projected to help developing countries protect their remaining intact natural forests. Start-up costs to support capacity-building activities in REDD-eligible countries are estimated to be €15-25 billion (£13.6-22.7 billion; $22.4-37.3 billion) from 2010-15, according to the September 2009 report of the Informal Working Group on Interim Finance for REDD.

Ms Jagger issued the statement today after attending Sunday's Forest Day 3 conference on the sidelines of the Copenhagen climate change talks. At the conference, U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer, said that politicians at the Copenhagen talks this week will focus on big picture issues, and called on Forest Day participants to "safeguard the nitty gritty" and keep negotiators focused on "environmental integrity, ecological integrity and protection of the rights of the people."

"I was very happy to hear Mr de Boer's statement," said Jagger. "We must be clear - climate justice is a pre-requisite to achieve an effective and ethical REDD agreement that puts peoples and forest first and an agreement that will help us tackle catastrophic climate change."

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