Rainforest Foundation UK News
ECOSYSTEMS CLIMATE ALLIANCE CALLS ENVIRONMENT MINISTERS TO ACTION OVER PALM OIL FORESTS DEFINITION
Environment and social NGOs have joined on mass to oppose moves by Indonesia and the EU to define oil palm plantations as forests just as Environment ministers from more than 100 countries meet this week in Bali. The NGOs known collectively as The Ecosystems Climate Alliance (ECA) including The Rainforest Foundation UK, Rainforest Foundation Norway, Global Witness, The Wilderness Society and Humane Society International, are calling on these Environment ministers to definitively oppose initiatives from Indonesia and the EU to reclassify oil palm plantations as forests(1), which would subvert global efforts to halt climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and threaten biodiversity, according to forest and climate experts. Redefining plantations as forests will create perverse incentives that actually finance deforestation by oil palm plantation companies. This is clearly contrary to current global efforts to protect forests by providing funds to assist countries and companies in reducing the degradation and destruction of forests and peatlands responsible for more than 15 percent of global emissions.
Help Stop The EU Commission From Forcing Biodiesel From Palm Oil!
With a few clicks below, you can add your voice against an issue we at the Rainforest Foundation UK and many other NGOs around the world consider to be a total scandal. PLEASE CLICK HERE NOW and in less than a minute you could have your voice heard by key members of the EU Commission!
Biodiesel from palm oil is one of the worst offenders causing rainforest destruction and affecting climate change. Palm oil plantations for food and fuel are the primary cause of rainforest destruction in Indonesia and Malaysia. A leaked draft EU document shows that the EU Commission would like to rename palm oil plantations as "forest" so that biodiesel from palm oil plantations can still meet EU biofuels sustainability criteria. Palm oil expansion is a major cause of deforestation and biodiesel from palm oil can create more greenhouse gas emissions than the fossil fuel it is meant to replace. With a few clicks HERE you can directly email the new energy and environment Commissioners and ask them to change this document to give a clear message to member states that biodiesel from palm oil should not be part of sustainable EU energy provision.
Concern Over Belo Monte Violation of Indigenous Rights
Rainforest Foundation UK's sister organisation Rainforest Foundation Norway (RFN) have today announced their deep concern that the world's third biggest hydro power dam, the Belo Monte in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, has been granted an official environmental licence to go ahead.
RFN Director Lars Løvold stated, "There has been no proper consultation with the indigenous peoples who will be affected by this mega-project, which is in violation of Brazil's legal obligations as a party to ILO Convention 169 on the rights of indigenous peoples. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been severely criticized on a number of issues, including underestimating the number of people affected and the loss of biodiversity, while overestimating the potential energy generation. It is essential that the Brazilian authorities respect the affected indigenous populations' right to free, prior an informed consent, and that such a huge construction is not rushed through as a stand-alone project, but is treated as a potential element in an overall strategic plan for energy projects the Amazon."
Read the BBC report on the licence approval HERE.
NB - It is the Foundation's Norway office that currently works within this area of Brazil. The photo above of Founding Patron Sting and Chief Raoni was taken in late 2009 at a press conference condemning this project (Credit:Beto Ricardo/ISA).
› Download our factsheet on the history, issues and concerns about the Belo Monte dam
Run for the Rainforest!
We have our 2010 London Marathon Team! We're very excited that our 2010 London Marathon Run for the Rainforest Team has been finalised and all 13 members are in training for a great year. We'll announce each runner's profile and ways you can support them shortly, so click back soon to have a look at our top 13, and if there's a run, cycle, walk or any adventure you'd like to do to support the rainforest, just drop us a line here and we'll help you on your journey!
Civil society concerned that REDD deal will not stop the forests from falling
On 17 December 2009, the penultimate day of discussions in Copenhagen, over 100 civil society organisations from all continents and most forested nations including the Accra Caucus on Forests and Climate Change (of which the Rainforest Foundation UK are members), voiced their concern that the deal on Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) is likely to fail, despite being described as the most significant likely outcome of Copenhagen. "Key unresolved issues for a successful REDD agreement are now in the hands of ministers. It is most important that they agree the strongest clauses for guaranteeing the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, and protecting natural forests" said Samuel Nnah of the Centre for Environment and Development in Cameroon.
US sabotages negotiations on draft REDD text
Latest update from REDD Monitor reported today that discussions late into the night on Monday (14 December 2009) at the Copenhagen COP15 UN Climate Change negotiations made the REDD text worse. The main culprits were the US and Colombia. The US won two prizes in Climate Action Network International's Fossil of the Day on Day 8 of Copenhagen: first prize for blocking the inclusion of emissions from aviation and shipping in the negotiations; and joint third prize with Colombia for "moving the process backwards on the REDD text".
The latest REDD text (dated 15 December 2009) can be downloaded here: FCCC/AWGLCA/2009/L.7/Add.6). The latest REDD-Monitor update includes an overview of some of the best (and the worst) reporting on the REDD discussions in Copenhagen. (Please note that these media reports came out before the latest version of the REDD text was produced - and that the REDD text linked above is not the final version. Some text is still in square brackets.) Some of the the worst reporting came from the New York Times, on 15 December 2009, shortly after the US negotiators carried out a hatchet job on the draft REDD text, which reads: "Negotiators have all but completed a sweeping deal that would compensate countries for preserving forests, and in some cases, other natural landscapes like peat soils, swamps and fields that play a crucial role in curbing climate change."
World leaders must deliver strong goals and money to make REDD happen
Members of the ECA including the Rainforest Foundation today announces that World leaders must deliver strong goals and money to make REDD happen as funding and targets apear absent as REDD text moves to ministerial level in the UN Copenhagen Climate Change negotiations. As REDD negotiating text goes to ministers this morning at the Copenhagen climate change talks, two outcomes are possible with several pivotal issues undecided. An agreement to reduce deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD) could be the strongest global measure ever enacted to protect the world's forests or a deal to incentivize their destruction, according to forest and climate experts from the Ecosystems Climate Alliance.
Click the links below to read the full text or download the press release.
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," said Ms Jagger.
The press conference for which Bianca Jagger was a panel member at the Copenhagenan UN Climate Change negotiations included members of the Rainforest Foundation UK and Norway, Ecosystems Climate Alliance and Global Witness, held as a REDD Update. The link to the webcast of the press conference can be by clicking HERE.
A robust agreement in Copenhagen to save rainforests is stripped of a global objective
The Rainforest Foundation UK alongside members of the Accra Caucus on Forests and Climate Change (some pictured above) announced to press and delegates that a robust agreement in Copenhagen to save rainforests is stripped of a global objective on halting deforestation and operative safeguards, as developing country governments react to lack of commitment by rich countries.
Non-governmental organisations from around the world today strongly condemned negotiators at the Copenhagen climate summit for removing key content from a draft agreement aimed at protecting the world's rainforests, and downgrading language protecting local communities and indigenous peoples in the text.
Click the links below to read or download download the full press release.
› Download the Statement from the Accra Caucus on Forests and Climate Change
From REDD to Green - What a forest deal in Copenhagen must include
The outcome of negotiations on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will be crucial for the future of tropical rainforests and forest-dependent peoples
The Rainforest Foundation UK's policy position on REDD has today been circulated in the Copenhagen Climate talks to appropriate delegates, governments and press and is available to read here in English, French and Spanish.
Click the links below to download the English, French and Spanish versions.
› RFUK policy position on REDD - ENGLISH
