Forest and Climate Change Grassroots Sign on Letter - Sending a Strong Message to The Hague
American Lands Alliance
As many of us have known for some time now, our forests and climate are intrinsically connected. Now this notion will extend beyond the scientific and into the political arena during the next UN climate change summit, which will be held November 13-24 at The Hague, Netherlands. This meeting will address, among many issues, how forests will be managed to help mitigate climate change. Please read our factsheet http://www.americanlands.org/forestweb/factsheet.htm for more information.
Now is the time to join our voices together and decry the Administration's potentially devastating position on how forests should be implemented under the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change. It is important that the US Administration understand that the environmental community demands effective and environmentally safe rules for both forests and climate during The Hague.
Please read the following Climate and Forest Sign On Letter and respond immediately to Darcy Davis at mailto:darcydavis@americanlands.org or by phone (503) 978-0132. We need to get this letter in the hands of our negotiators at The Hague soon, the deadline for this letter is the close of business on Tuesday Nov 14. Thank you for your support and energy. We can all make real difference together.
CLIMATE AND FOREST GRASSROOTS SIGN ON LETTER
The Honorable William Jefferson Clinton 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
November 14, 2000
Dear Mr. President:
We are writing to express great concern and disappointment over the U.S. position on land use, land use change, and forestry rules under the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change. These rules will be negotiated and adopted over the next two weeks at the Sixth Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in The Hague. The United States has proposed a lenient and environmentally unsound version of the rules. If adopted as written, they would result in a compromised Kyoto Protocol that would not adequately address the need to reduce carbon emissions at their sources. Furthermore, the lenient U.S. proposal would threaten forests and other native ecosystems here and abroad by encouraging the use of plantations, pesticides, herbicides, clearcutting, exotic and even genetically modified trees, and other harmful practices.
It is hard to imagine rules with more far-reaching effects. In the U.S. alone, their set of incentives and disincentives will strongly influence the future management of 500 million acres of American forestland, 20% of our nation's land area. Thus, it is imperative that the rules encourage only environmentally beneficial forestry practices such as the restoration of native forests.
There is still time for the U.S. to move to a position of environmental leadership at The Hague and embrace rules that benefit both forests and climate by promoting real forest protection, real additional carbon sequestration, and real greenhouse gas reduction. We ask that your Administration modify its position to support the following:
Binding environmental safeguards to prevent ecological degradation. Unless LULUCF rules contain binding environmental standards, the Kyoto Protocol will end up encouraging practices that maximize carbon sequestration but devastate native ecosystems, including forests and grasslands. For example, the current U.S. proposal would grant emissions offset credits for planting fast growing poplar trees on rare native grasslands even if this activity would threaten endangered native plants or animals. We are extremely disappointed that your Administration has so far resisted including binding environmental safeguards in its rules position.
Removal of perverse incentives to log old growth prior to the start of the first commitment period (2008-2012). We are pleased that the current proposal debits cutting or otherwise destroying old growth forests during this period. However, strong disincentives to discourage countries from "rushing to cut" old growth prior to this time must also be part of the rules package. These disincentives must cover activities under both Articles 3.3 and 3.4 of the Protocol.
No credit for "business-as-usual" forestry. If carbon sequestration by business-as-usual forestry activities - those that would have occurred even in the absence of the Kyoto Protocol - is credited, then the U.S. will be able to escape from up to half of its emissions reduction commitment in the Protocol without actually reducing the amount of CO2 that it adds to the atmosphere each year. Moreover, in some countries such credit might result in financial incentives for current industrial timber practices. Credit for business-as-usual forestry would seriously undermine the protocol.
In order to avoid crediting business-usual-forestry, only forest carbon sequestration above the amount that would have occurred in the Protocol's absence should be counted as an emission reduction.
Removal of linkage between old growth protection and credit for business-as-usual forestry. The current proposal stresses that its steps to protect old growth come only as part of a package that also includes crediting carbon sequestration by business-as-usual forestry. As described above, credit for that kind of forestry would drastically compromise the Protocol.
Full accounting for shifts of domestic logging to countries without binding emissions targets. Forest protection activities in the U.S. and other developed countries (those with binding emissions targets under Kyoto) should not be credited as removing or sequestering carbon unless any resulting shifts of logging to undeveloped countries can be accounted for. Credit assigned to the forest protection should be discounted accordingly.
The measures described above will be opposed by a number of powerful special interests. However, they are necessary to ensure that the Protocol protects natural places while credibly addressing the buildup of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Finally, the U.S. public overwhelmingly supports protecting and restoring natural places. It will respond positively to steps that implement the Kyoto Protocol while protecting and restoring the native forests, roadless areas, and other special places that our citizens would like to leave for their children and grandchildren to enjoy.
Sincerely,
Aaron Rappaport, American Lands Alliance, Washington, D.C.
Steve Holmer
November 9, 2000
By Steve Holmer
Washington DC 20500
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