DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
AND CLIMATE CHANGE News Release (2008/022) issued by COI News
Distribution Service. 12 December 2008
-Mission statement
backed by developed and developing countries
-UK announces £100m to help protect forest environment
The United Kingdom will contribute £100 million to reduce the
impact of deforestation on the world's climate, whilst
supporting those who are most dependent on the forests for their
livelihoods, UK Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband
will announce in Poznan, Poland today [Friday 12 December].
The funding will help ensure that economic growth in rainforest
countries is sustainable; allowing nations to develop and improve
their infrastructure without negative impacts on their local
forest environment.
Mr Miliband is to add that around 17% of all greenhouse
gas
emissions (18% of all carbon dioxide emissions alone) are
due to forestry and land use change and that it is a major cause
of emissions in developing countries.
In addition to new investment, ministers from developed and
developing countries alike joined forces to agree how they would
take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation
and forest degradation, and encourage sustainable management and
conservation, signing a mission statement at a special event on
Friday to demonstrate their commitment.
Speaking at the UN Conference on Climate Change in Poznan,
Poland, Ed Miliband said:
"Protecting and replenishing the planet's forests is
essential to tackling climate change. Today, developed and
developing countries have come together to chart a way forward so
that we can tackle climate change and make lives better for people
who live in forest communities. And this agreement embodies the
spirit of co-operation we need with everyone accepting they have a
part to play in tackling climate change, including the need for
finance. What we have to do next is to translate this spirit into
of co-operation into a global agreement next year."
Secretary of State for International Development, Douglas
Alexander said:
"Climate change will hit the world's poorest people the
hardest. Protecting the forests in developing countries is vital
in cutting carbon emissions but this must be done hand in hand
with ensuring communities can still feed themselves and earn a living.
"The funding we have announced today will support activities
in developing countries such as enabling farmers to make a living
in ways that mean they don't have to cut down more forests.
Our funding will back the vital steps we hope to see in these
talks towards achieving a climate change agreement that's
fair for all."
Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said:
"We are already witnessing the damaging effects of climate
change on forest biodiversity and the ecosystems upon which we all depend.
"An agreement to limit the emissions caused by deforestation
and degradation of forests will be crucial to ensuring that we
conserve forests, their biodiversity, soil and water for the future."
The joint statement sets out what both rainforest countries and
the international community should be working towards in order to
protect the world's forests.
Signatories from developing countries show their willingness to
develop national strategies working in cooperation with relevant
stakeholders - including indigenous peoples, other civil society
groups and the private sector - to analyse the drivers of
deforestation and forest degradation. Establishing national
systems for monitoring, reporting and verifying emissions will be
vital parts of these strategies in order to produce credible results.
Developed countries agreeing to the statement affirm that they
stand ready to support capacity building for countries to develop
such strategies and to reward those who can quickly move to
demonstrating results in reducing emissions in a measurable and
verifiable manner.
The statement also underlines the importance of improved
cooperation and rationalization between funding agencies,
particularly as all countries work towards finalising a global
deal in Copenhagen 2009.
Notes for editors
1. Poznan, Poland is hosting the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Negotiations are currently
half way through a two year process which began in Bali and aims
to close in Copenhagen, 2009.
2. A copy of the statement will be issued with this press notice.
3. A definitive list of countries signing up to this statement
will be available on Friday 12 December.
4. Agreement to include reduced emissions from deforestation in
developing countries in a future climate change agreement was
reached during UNFCCC discussions in Bali December 2007.
5. The UK has already committed £15 million to supporting
demonstration efforts under the World Bank's Forest Carbon
Partnership Facility and £60 million to the Congo Basin Forest Fund.
6. One of the first initiatives for the Congo Basin Forest Fund
will be to gather baseline information. In collaboration with the
Brazilian government, the UK will be sending a British satellite
camera to Brazil that will provide high resolution images of the
Congo Basin forest.
7. The World Bank Forest Carbon Partnership Facility aims to
build developing countries' capacity to engage in a future
REDD mechanism and test ways of making payments in return for
emissions savings through the sustainable management of forests,
in the period up to 2012.
8. The Congo Basin Forest Fund aims to slow the rate of
deforestation by developing the capacity of people and
institutions in the Congo Basin countries to manage their forests
and helping local communities find livelihoods that are consistent
with the conservation of forests.
9. The £100 million funding will come from the Environmental
Transformation Fund, which is an £800 million joint DFID - DECC
fund, set up to support developing countries facing the challenges
of Climate Change. The fund will be channelled through the
multi-donor Climate Investment Funds.