Responding to the news that the UK government is set to commit £15m to a World Bank scheme which aims to reduce tropical deforestation, John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace UK said:
"It would be unthinkable for the next phase of the Kyoto protocol not to address tropical deforestation, which is one of the biggest drivers of climate change. But world leaders can't use this as an excuse to avoid slashing emissions in their own countries - we urgently need to do both.
"What's more, our government should think twice before pumping more money into the coffers of the World Bank, which has a poor track record when it comes to illegal logging. We need an agreement which benefits indigenous forest communities around the world."
The bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility was unveiled today in Bali. The bank has set a target of $300 million overall for the facility - the UK's capital contribution represents 10 per cent of the overall target.
The World Bank stands accused of failing to tackle uncontrolled industrial logging in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A Greenpeace report, released earlier this year and entitled "Carving up the Congo" shows how the emphasis placed on logging as a means of developing local economies has undermined the bank's stated position as a protector of tropical forests.
For the full report visit www.greenpeace.org.uk/media/reports/carving-up-the-congo
For more contact Greenpeace on 0207 865 8255
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- Indonesia and Brazil are the third and fourth largest global CO2 emitters because of the clearing of their rainforests for commodities like timber, palm oil and soya. Dealing with deforestation and emissions on this scale requires a well-funded, well-thought out, global approach.
- Since 1997 about 13 million hectares of forest (mostly tropical) have been destroyed per year - an area the size of Greece lost every year.
- Greenpeace has proposed an international mechanism (TDERM), to be overseen by the United Nations; it has the potential to raise funding in the range of several billion US$ per year to finance urgent action to cut emissions from deforestation.
- The proposal would allow industrialised countries like Britain to meet a percentage of their emissions reduction targets through the purchase of "units" from the scheme. Proceeds from the sale of these units would be used to transfer resources between rich countries and poor ones to prevent deforestation.
- Any such scheme has to guarantee the participation of the indigenous people of forest countries, and to make sure that they benefit from any transfer of resources from the North to South.
