Forest Day 4 key messages
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Forest Day 4 was held in Cancun, Mexico with over 1500 participants. The theme was "Time to Act" with a sense of urgency to agree on REDD+ mechanisms to reduce deforestation and forest degradation. There was impatience that five years after Montreal and four years after the Stern Review, no agreement had been reached. Participants asserted that the science on climate change is clear and that failure to act would lead to dangerous climate change impacts. A majority saw monitoring co-benefits of REDD+ as very important and supported mainstreaming sustainable forest management into agriculture, water and energy sector policies.
Forest Day 4 key messages
- 1. Forest Day 4 Sunday 5 December, 2010 Cancun, Mexico
- 2. Forest Day 4 co-hosts
- 3. Forest Day 4 • Theme: “Time to Act” • 1533 participants by mid pm ...of which 276 UNFCCC Party delegates ...and 106 members of the media • Keynote by the President of Mexico, Felipe Calderón • 70 speakers • Video streaming and blogs in 6 languages
- 4. A sense of urgency The time to act is now Impatience with lack of agreement on REDD+ five years after Montreal and four years after Stern Review Many references to extreme weather events in 2010 Assertion that the science is strong, and the “no action” scenarios are scary
- 5. Success is within reach President Calderón: “It’s time for all of us to push and push hard for incorporation of REDD+ into an agreement” John Ashton: “REDD+ is an enormous prize within our grasp” Tony La Viña: “Exceptionally good dynamics of REDD+ negotiations”
- 6. Synergies and safeguards Rights: Indigenous and community rights must be protected; rigorously enforced standards could reduce investment risk Livelihoods: REDD+ finance must be aligned with poverty reduction Biodiversity: REDD+ depends on, and can benefit, biodiversity Adaptation: Significant synergies to be captured with mitigation
- 7. Sub-plenary voting results: How important is it to monitor the co-benefits of REDD+? 1. Not sufficiently important in relation to the anticipated high transaction costs 5% 2. Somewhat important, but not at the expense of the primary objective of achieving emission reductions 31% 3. Very important, even at the expense of some emission reductions effectiveness 65%
- 8. Options and opportunities Community management of forests: The Mexican experience demonstrates the promise of local stewardship of forests Restoration of degraded land: Targeting the 1.5 billion hectares of degraded agricultural and forest land could break the poverty/degradation cycle Improving forest governance: REDD+ creates a demand for good forest governance that could help address corruption and improve law enforcement
- 9. Sub-plenary voting results: Should sustainable management and restoration of forest ecosystems be mainstreamed in the adaptation plans and policies of other sectors such as agriculture, water and energy? 1. Yes, always 62% 2. Yes, sometimes 19% 3. Don’t know 7% 4. Generally no 7% 5. Never 5%
- 10. Agriculture/forestry links • Agricultural expansion remains a major driver of deforestation • Agricultural intensification does not necessarily reduce deforestation, and can accelerate it • Landscape-level approaches to achieve multiple benefits: • Incentive payments • Other investments • Disincentives (command and control)
- 11. Sub-plenary voting results: How should forests be included in a post-Kyoto climate agreement? 1. RED (deforestation only) 5% 2. REDD (deforestation and degradation only) 11% 3. REDD+ (encompassing conservation, Sustainable Forest Management and carbon stock enhancement) 47% 4. REDD++ (including all terrestrial carbon) 37% Note: Proportion voting for REDD++ decreased since Forest Day 3