Forests on the agenda at UN climate change talks
Today, governments, businesses and NGOs from across the planet will come together in South Africa for two weeks of United Nations climate change negotiations. With deforestation creating up to a fifth of the world’s man-made carbon dioxide emissions, forests are high on the agenda. So what does this mean for projects like Sky Rainforest Rescue?
Forests absorb and store immense amounts of carbon, and when they are cleared or damaged, this carbon is released into the atmosphere. But halting deforestation is a real economic challenge for many developing countries, where most deforestation is happening.
The UN’s solution is to create a system where developing countries receive financial incentives to help make forest conservation more economically viable. Designing that system (known as REDD+ or ‘reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation’) is a hot topic for this year’s negotiators.
Sky Rainforest Rescue is all about making forests worth more to local people standing than cut down, and the project will have plenty of lessons for how REDD+ can be designed on the ground. A critical one is how to make sure that poor communities, who depend on forests to meet basic needs, benefit from the system.
WWF’s Forests and Climate Officer, Emily Brickell, says:
“The experiences of Acre state and Sky Rainforest Rescue show that reducing emissions, conserving forests and supporting local development can go hand-in-hand. We hope that our work provides a practical example of an ambitious project to tackle deforestation while benefitting local communities.”
Find out more
Sky Rainforest Rescue and REDD+
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