Sign-On To Protect Forests and Climate
December 19, 2000
By
Steve Holmer
One of several important items of unfinished business that the Clinton Administration should attempt to resolve in the month that they remain in office is reaching agreement with other governments on rules to implement the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. Regrettably, the major international meeting held at The Hague in November, the "Council of the Parties" or COP 6 meeting, failed to resolve any of the major differences among nations about how to credit forest and other land use activities under the Kyoto Protocol.
These rules are extremely important both for climate change and forests. The U.S. must make a greater commitment to emission reductions for an agreement to be reached, and for a real reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions to occur. The U.S. must also back off of the idea of claiming credit (even discounted) for "business as usual forestry," which simply amounts to retaining existing forest management practices, which we know are driving species to extinction both here and around the world. The question at hand is literally whether the future of global forests is going to be more industrial forestry with increased use of plantations, chemicals, and probably genetically modified trees, or the protection and restoration of native forest ecosystems.
The following letter suggests a positive way for the Clinton Administration, in their last month in office, to move the Kyoto process forward and make a lasting contribution to the environment by addressing the threat of climate change. Surely, this is going to be much more difficult in a Bush Administration. Clinton and Gore need to act now.
Please sign your group to this letter by contacting mailto:darcydavis@americanlands.org before 5 pm Friday, December 22. Individuals wishing to weigh in are encouraged to cut and paste the letter below, change its salutation to "Dear Secretary Loy," and fax it to Frank E. Loy, Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs, at (202) 647-0753.
For more information, please contact: Darcy Davis, (503) 978-0132, mailto:darcydavis@americanlands.org Aaron Rappaport, (202) 547-9098, mailto:arappaport@mindspring.com
Dear Mr. President:
We trust that you share our disappointment that the COP 6 meeting at The Hague ended without an agreement on various land use and forest issues relating to the implementation of the Kyoto climate change protocol. Much knowledge has been gained and progress made in recent years on international climate change policy, and we know that climate change is an environmental and social challenge that both you and Vice President Gore recognize as a priority.
For that reason, we urge you to do everything possible before your term of office ends to see that the U.S. reaches agreement with other governments on the unresolved issues from COP 6 so that the Kyoto process can move forward and important steps necessary to address climate change are not delayed.
As you know, forest provisions were critical to the debate at COP 6 and are central to the differences among various governments that prevented an agreement from being reached. We believe that the right set of rules will both protect forests and address climate change in a responsible manner. However, we were disappointed that at The Hague, the U.S. failed to put a proposal on the table that was written to insure that only activities that really protect forests are credited. The debate should not only be about how much land use activity is credited, but what activities are credited.
The U.S. must make a much stronger commitment to domestic emission reductions as the overriding strategy to mitigate climate change. In addition, for an agreement to benefit both climate and forests, the following principles must be upheld:
1) Only improved carbon sequestration practices should be granted carbon credits. Business as usual forestry does not reduce current greenhouse gas emissions and thus should not be entitled to any credits;
2) Environmental safeguards must be established to ensure that ecosystems are not harmed by chemical forestry treatment, exotic species or genetically engineered trees that might be used to "enhance forest growth";
3) Prevention of native forest logging and the promotion of forest restoration must be encouraged, rather than short rotation monoculture tree farms;
Biomass fuel alternatives must not allow the chipping of whole tress or the degradation of forest ecosystems;
A limit must be set on the amount of carbon emissions reductions that can be claimed from land use and forestry activities;
If the U.S. were to articulate a new proposal that embraced these principles to carefully define and limit forest activities, we believe that it would be well received from other nations who have doubts about the role of forests in contributing to an effective climate change strategy.
We appreciate your leadership, and urge you to take action in the time remaining in your Administration to leave a legacy of reinvigorated hope on climate change.
Sincerely,
Aaron Rappaport, American Lands, Washington, DC YOUR NAME, YOUR GROUP, ITS CITY, ITS STATE
Steve Holmer
Campaign Coordinator
American Lands
726 7th Street SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
202/547-9105
202/547-9213 fax
mailto:wafcdc@americanlands.org
http://www.americanlands.org