Sustainable Forest Use Advances at Climate Meeting

Sustainable Forest Use Advances at Climate Meeting

Washington, 21 November 2013 — Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States are co-founders of the Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes (ISFL), a plan announced November 20 at the international meeting on climate change underway in Warsaw, Poland.

Deforestation “isn’t just an environment issue,” said Secretary of State John Kerry in a videotaped statement played at the event. “It’s an economic issue, it’s an energy issue.”

Forests play a key role in maintaining Earth’s atmospheric balance as they consume carbon dioxide and expel oxygen. When they are cut, forests are a huge economic resource, as timber and pulp products, or as land converted to agriculture use. Deforestation sacrifices the beneficial gas conversion process trees perform, and it releases huge amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions into the atmosphere.

Fully one-third of emissions released every year worldwide come from burning and destruction of forests, Kerry said, a huge contribution to the processes causing climate change. It is a threat to the planet that is “real, grave and growing,” he said.

Finding ways to help countries derive economic value from forest resources while still preserving them is the key objective of the ISFL. Under management of the World Bank, governments and the private sector will work together to create incentives for more sustainable use of forests.

“ISFL will help countries identify and promote climate-smart agricultural and low-carbon land-use practices,” according to a World Bank fact sheet. Specific activities will include protecting forests, restoring degraded lands, enhancing agricultural productivity and improving livelihoods for the people who live on and around these lands.

Other sustainable forests programs have pursued similar objectives. One example is the U.N. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) initiative in developing countries. What sets ISFL apart from other initiatives, however, is its emphasis on private sector activities. Companies in the food and agriculture sectors are responding to consumers’ recognition and interest that the products they purchase emerge from sustainable supply chains. Some companies are now taking extra care in incorporating the zero-deforestation principle into their supply chains, according to the World Bank. ISFL organizers predict that this initiative will further promote that trend.

U.S. Climate Envoy Todd Stern participated in the Warsaw announcement, saying that the United States will offer $25 million in initial funding. That commitment complements more than $1 billion the United States has contributed to the REDD initiative since its 2008 launch.

Stern acknowledged the need to achieve the proper balance between sustaining the environmental value of forests and opportunities for economic growth in agriculture.

“We very much hope that this new initiative can help break down the myth that we must choose between either development or the environment,” Stern said. The new approach is intended to help developing countries identify resources “to implement smarter, more productive forest preservation strategies and create alternative options.”

Stern and other partners unveiled ISFL at the Conference of the Parties 19, a meeting of nations involved in the U.N. Framework on Climate Change Convention. The meeting is scheduled to close November 22.

ISFL dovetails with a similarly motivated U.S. initiative, the Tropical Forest Alliance 2020. This partnership is also engaging private sector companies to reduce the deforestation occurring in the production of widely used commodities such as palm oil, soy, beef, and paper and pulp.

ENDS

© Scoop Media