Crunch Time for Forests, Climate at the Hague
American Lands
November 22, 2000
The official U.S. delegation to the COP 6 Climate Change Conference just met with representatives of various environmental groups here at The Hague. It is clear that the U.S. still has an enormous distance to move if an environmentally responsible agreement for implementing the Kyoto Climate Protocol is to be reached this week.
The clock is ticking. The COP 6 meeting is scheduled to end Friday. The U.S. is now expressing interest in addressing some of the problems that have been raised around their position, but they have not yet moved on the biggest issues:
1) The U.S. must commit to do more on emission reductions for there to be an agreement at The Hague.
2) The U.S. must back off of seeking credit for "business as usual" forestry, claiming credit for doing nothing except continuing current forest activities. These include the industrial logging practices that already threaten biodiversity; and
3) The U.S. must support strong environmental rules that prevent conversion of forests to tree plantations, and instead limit forest activities to protection and restoration.
There is not much time left to have your voice heard at The Hague. The official U.S. delegation must be convinced that forest activists are watching the negotiations and that we insist on both climate and forest friendly rules.
There is simply no reason that the U.S. should receive credit for "business as usual" forestry activities. There is simply no reason why the U.S. should promote rules which encourage or allow conversion of native forests to plantations, here or in developing nations. And there is no reason why the U.S. can't make a larger commitment to reducing emissions from industrial activities.
Please take a moment today to call the White House Comment Line at 202/456-1414 and make the points above. Or, fax 509/463-4602 to have your message hand delivered to the U.S. delegation in The Hague. Thanks for your help in moving the U.S. to a responsible position in the climate talks at The Hague.
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