U.S. Must Keep Copenhagen Promise to Conserve Forests
In 2009 at the Copenhagen climate change meeting, the United States committed $1 billion over three years to help protect tropical forests. This major commitment of short-term funding to conserve tropical forests is a big step toward re-establishing U.S. leadership in addressing global warming. Tropical deforestation accounts for about 15 percent of heat-trapping emissions worldwide—more than the emissions from all cars, trucks, ships, and planes in the world combined. Preventing tropical deforestation is a cost-effective solution and has already been proven to be successful. A total of 12 developed nations made pledges for tropical forests in 2009, totaling over $4 billion. The $1 billion pledge shows that the United States will join other industrialized nations in making a real commitment to preserving tropical forests. It is important that the United States fulfill this promise to keep the momentum going in the world's effort to reduce emissions from tropical deforestation. The progress on agreements to reduce tropical deforestation at the Cancun climate change meeting, one year after Copenhagen, was in part due to these global efforts to support tropical forests.
The $1 billion—spread out over three years (fiscal years 2010-2012)—will help jumpstart programs to reduce tropical deforestation. This money will be used by developing countries to build their capacity to monitor and measure global warming pollution from deforestation and protect their forests. It is important that developing countries get this initial funding so that they have the technology and training necessary, as well as the incentive, to make real emissions reductions over the next few years. The money could also be used to compensate tropical nations for additional reductions in deforestation.
In order for the U.S. to fulfill its pledge, the 2010-2012 fiscal year budgets must pass through the appropriations committees, be voted on in the floor in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and then signed by the president with numbers for tropical forests that add up to $1 billion. The budgets for fiscal years 2010 and 2011 have passed and allocated about $480 million for tropical forests. Thus, the tropical forest allocation in the budget for 2012 must be robust in order to bring the total as close to $1 billion as possible. The world will be watching to see if the United States keeps its promise and makes a serious effort to reduce global warming by helping developing countries reduce their deforestation.
